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Venezuela

Chavez Death: Venezuela Mourns, Looks To Funeral And New Election

BBC (UK), EFE, EL TIEMPO, EL NACIONAL, INFOBAE, INTORNO INTELIGENTE (Venezuela), LA VANGUARDIA (Spain)

Worldcrunch

CARACAS- Though not unexpected, the death of Hugo Chavez after 14 years in power and a nearly two-year battle with cancer, has left Venezeula without a leader. The government announced Wednesday that the funeral for the 58-year-old President was set for Friday, along with one week of public mourning.

The death, officially marked At 4:25pm on Tuesday, was announced (video below) by Vice-President, Nicolas Maduro, who was handpicked by Chávez to succeed him in the event of his passing. Maduro will assume the presidency temporarily until elections are held within 30 days.

El Tiempo notes that Maduro's interim hold on the office violates the Venezuelan constitution, which states that Speaker of the House, currently Diosdado Cabello, should take over.

Former paratrooper Chávez died in the Military hospital in Caracas, where overnight, crowds of supporters held vigil says the BBC. The supporters were chanting “We are all Chávez!”.

InfoBAE reports that Maduro gave a message to the government’s opposition, saying that maintaining peace is crucial during the coming days. He said that the Venezuelan society “is shaken, in pain, crying for their President, mourning a great leader of the country. It’s difficult to meet a human being like Chávez, who gave his life for us. What an immense fight he put up! We will never forget March 5th.”

Hugo Chávez lanzó su carrera política y en 1998, con un 56,2% de los votos, ganó las elecciones #murióChávez twitter.com/NoticiasCaraco…

— Noticias Caracol (@NoticiasCaracol) March 5, 2013

La Vanguardia has a live blog with worldwide reactions and the tributes for El Comandante have been pouring in for the man who assumed power of the country in 1999.

Iranian President, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, said of Chávez: “He was the symbol of all the revolutionaries of the glorious and tragic history of Latin America”. EFE says that Iran has announced a day of mourning for the man that Iran promised “eternal friendship” to in 2012. Vladimir Putin also said that a great friend of Russia had been lost, stating that the relationship between Moscow and Caracas needs to be further strengthened and developed.

Chavez will lie in state for three days in the Military Academy in the capital. The official funeral will take place on Friday, March 8 at 10am local time. Seven days of mourning have been announced says El Nacional.

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Society

Influencer Union? The Next Labor Rights Battle May Be For Social Media Creators

With the end of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes, the creator economy is the next frontier for organized labor.

​photograph of a smartphone on a selfie stick

Smartphone on a selfie stick

Steve Gale/Unsplash
David Craig and Stuart Cunningham

Hollywood writers and actors recently proved that they could go toe-to-toe with powerful media conglomerates. After going on strike in the summer of 2023, they secured better pay, more transparency from streaming services and safeguards from having their work exploited or replaced by artificial intelligence.

But the future of entertainment extends well beyond Hollywood. Social media creators – otherwise known as influencers, YouTubers, TikTokers, vloggers and live streamers – entertain and inform a vast portion of the planet.

✉️ You can receive our Bon Vivant selection of fresh reads on international culture, food & travel directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

For the past decade, we’ve mapped the contours and dimensions of the global social media entertainment industry. Unlike their Hollywood counterparts, these creators struggle to be seen as entertainers worthy of basic labor protections.

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