ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – The Dominica government Tuesday night declared a national state of mourning in honour of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who died earlier following a long battle with cancer.
In an emotional address to the nation, Prime Minster Roosevelt Skerrit, who described Chavez as a personal friend “who held my hand in the brightest and darkest hours of my tenure and indeed as the prime minister, said that all flags will be flown at half mast from Wednesday until the morning after his burial.
“I have lost a colleague, a father, a brother and a friend,” he said, adding “we have suffered a great loss. For many of us here in Dominica, he was not just another head of government or a head of state...Hugo Chavez was... a good friend of Dominica. Indeed he was Dominican in many respects.