The head of the Government of Caracas, the senior Chavista leader Darío Vivas, died this Thursday of causes related to COVID-19, less than a month after announcing that he suffered from the disease.
“It is with deep regret that we receive the unfortunate news of the death of our good friend Darío Vivas, a full-fledged revolutionary, with whom we have shared brave struggles in the streets of Caracas since the 1980s in defense of the people and the homeland,” the prosecutor confirmed on Twitter. General, Tarek Saab, also a veteran Chavista leader.
Vivas, who was 70 years old, reported on July 19 that he had contracted the SARS-COV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19 and, therefore, was isolated in a medical center.
He also announced that he was entrusted to Dr. José Gregorio Hernández, considered a saint among Venezuelans and whose beatification was recently approved by Pope Francis, but has not yet been carried out.
The position he held as head of government is parallel to that of the mayor of the capital and is appointed directly by the president, since Caracas has a special regime and a government system constituted by an Executive body, whose legislative function is to office of Parliament.
As head of Government, Vivas had to exercise the administration of the organs and officials of the Caracas administration, as well as the direction, coordination and control of the government organisms.
The politician was also a member of the National Constituent Assembly, a body composed solely of Chavistas and not recognized by the international community, which is why he has been sanctioned by the United States and Canada.
Venezuelans remember him for having been the presenter of Hugo Chávez’s campaign events for the 2012 elections, when the late president won his fourth term, just months before dying from cancer.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had commissioned Vivas, in his capacity as leader of the ruling Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), to organize medical brigades made up of his co-supporters to locate COVID-19 patients and not by doctors from the Ministry of Health.
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