REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, HAVANA - A mix of sorrow, self-interest and dread took hold of Cuba Tuesday evening as word spread like wildfire that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who had done so much for the country, was dead.

While the official evening newscast devoted its entire program to events unfolding in Caracas, the government reaction was slow in coming.

Later in the evening Cuba declared three days of mourning, and eulogized Chavez saying his "Bolivarian Revolution" was "irreversible" and that Cuba would continue to "accompany Venezuelans in their struggles."

Chavez's resolute ideological embrace of Cuba helped propel the once isolated communist island back into the center of regional politics, and oil-rich Venezuela's largesse under Chavez proved a life saver for the embargoed and near bankrupt Caribbean island after the collapse of its longtime benefactor, the Soviet Union.

Chavez is viewed in Cuba as an irreplaceable leader of the region and savior of socialism, portrayed day and night by official media as a champion of regional unity, independence and the island.

Around Latin America and the Caribbean, where Chavez's oil-fueled largesse was a source of support for various leftist governments, tributes and condolences poured in. Bolivian President Evo Morales, a close personal friend, wept as he spoke of Chavez.

Brazil's Congress held a minute of silence. "President Chavez has always been a friend of Brazil, regardless of his political position," said Renan Calheiros, president of the Brazilian Senate.

Colombia, whose pro-US conservative governments have clashed fiercely with Chavez in the past, also paid homage.

"I think in the last two years ... our relations with Venezuela advanced really well, and he was also a very important support for the current peace process," Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said, referring to her government's rapprochement with Chavez and ongoing peace talks with leftist rebels. 

"Hopefully he'll find peace," he said.

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien told CBC television he met Chavez several times, was quite fond of him. Chretien acted as a facilitator between Chavez and former U.S. President George W. Bush at a 2001 Summit of the Americas.

"He was a great baseball fan and player and he always told me that if I were to visit him in Venezuela we would go to a baseball field and he would throw balls to me for me to hit them," he said. "And we never had the occasion to do that."

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