Slideshow: Hugo Chavez through the years

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The life of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez from his rise as a lieutenant colonel after his failed coup attempt in 1992.

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Hours before Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died, his second-in-command accused enemies of giving him cancer and announced the expulsion of two U.S. diplomats for an alleged plot to destabilize the government.

"There's no doubt that Commandante Chavez's health came under attack by the enemy," Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in an address to the nation from the presidential palace.

"The old enemies of our fatherland looked for a way to harm his health,'' according to Maduro, drawing a parallel to the illness and 2004 death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which some supporters blamed on poisoning by Israeli agents.

He said a special commission would investigate how Chavez, 58, ended up with the unspecified cancer that months of chemotherapy and radiation and four surgeries failed to tame.

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement it was "absurd" to suggest that the U.S. was somehow involved in Chavez's illness.

The allegation was made against a backdrop of diplomatic tension, with Caracas announcing that two American Air Force attachés had been given 24 hours to leave the country.

AFP - Getty Images

Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro (L) speaking at a meeting on Venezuela's political future in Caracas on March 5, 2013, in a picture provided by the government press office.

Maduro accused one of them, David Delmonaco, of spying and meeting with Venezuelan military officials for nefarious purposes. The expulsion of the second, Devlin Kostal, was announced soon after.

Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale said Delmonaco would be leaving Caracas and that Kostal was already in the U.S. and denied the allegations against them.

"We completely reject the Venezuelan government's claim that the United States is involved in any type of conspiracy to destabilize Venezuela government," he said.

Ventrell also dismissed the accusations.

"Notwithstanding the significant differences between our governments, we continue to believe it important to seek a functional and more productive relationship with Venezuela based on issues of mutual interest," he said.

"This fallacious assertion of inappropriate U.S. action leads us to conclude that, unfortunately, the current Venezuelan government is not interested in an improved relationship."

Venezuela's relations with the U.S. have been strained for years, and Chavez saw conspiracies everywhere.

In 2008, he expelled the American ambassador, claiming the U.S. was orchestrating a military coup. He had repeatedly claimed to be the target of assassination plots from domestic and international opponents.

NBC News' Havana bureau chief Mary Murray, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report

Previous coverage:

Chavez's breathing problems worsen with severe new infection

Kennedy under fire for praising Chavez

Jorge Silva / Reuters

A supporter of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez wears a mask depicting him during a rally in Caracas Feb. 27, 2013.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro suggested the chemotherapy was continuing in the government's first mention of it as among treatments that Venezuela's cancer-stricken president has received since his Dec. 11 cancer surgery in Cuba.

Maduro's offering of the most detailed rundown to date of Chavez's post-operative struggle came hours after an accusation by opposition leader Henrique Capriles that the government has repeatedly lied about Chavez's condition.

"We'll see how they explain to the country in the (coming) days all the lies they've been telling about the president's situation," Capriles, whom Chavez defeated in Oct. 7 elections, said in a tweet.

Chavez has not been seen nor heard from since going to Cuba for his fourth cancer surgery, except for a set of "proof of life" photos released Feb. 15 while he was still in Havana.

Chavez first revealed an unspecified cancer in the pelvic region in June 2011, and reported undergoing radiation treatment and chemotherapy after earlier operations.

Raul Arboleda / AFP - Getty Images

Two men paint a mural portraying Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with the slogan "We shall overcome" on the streets of Caracas on Jan. 8, 2013. A constitutional fight over cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez's status intensified Tuesday with the government planning a massive show of support in the streets on the day he is supposed to be sworn in to a new term.

Ailing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez will not be able to attend the presidential swearing-in ceremony Thursday in Caracas, government sources said Tuesday.

In a statement read by National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, Vice President Nicolás Maduro said Chavez's medical team in Cuba indicated the president's post-surgery recovery time needs to be extended.

Venezuela tensions brew as Chavez remains ill, absent

Venezuela's opposition is accusing the government of violating the constitution by proposing to delay Chavez's inauguration for a new term.

The socialist leader's allies say the Jan. 10 inauguration date laid out in the constitution is just a "formality."  They say Chavez, who has not been heard from for almost a month after complex cancer surgery in Cuba, can take office when his health allows.

The dispute centers on an article of the constitution that says a president-elect should be sworn in on Jan. 10 but does not say what happens if the inauguration does not take place that date.

The official position is that Chavez is fulfilling his duties as head of state despite a severe respiratory infection that has at times left him struggling to breathe. He has not been seen in public or in a live broadcast since his surgery.

The government, which has refused to discuss having Chavez temporarily step aside as he recovers, is providing only terse statements with bare-bones details of his condition.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Leo Ramirez / AFP - Getty Images

Literature praising Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on sale at a shop in Caracas on Monday. As the date approaches for Chavez to be inaugurated for a new term in office, the president remained out of sight and gravely ill after a complicated cancer surgery in Cuba.

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela are warning that the country's stability is at risk amid growing tensions surrounding President Hugo Chavez's long absence after cancer surgery in Cuba.

Catholic leaders in the Venezuelan Bishops Conference said on Monday that conflicting stances by the government and opposition ahead of Chavez's scheduled swearing-in for a new term make for a potentially dangerous and violent situation.

"The nation's political and social stability is at serious risk," said Bishop Diego Padron, the conference's president, reading a statement from the organization.

Venezuela's opposition is accusing the government of violating the constitution by proposing to delay Chavez's inauguration for a new term, slated to take place on Thursday.

The socialist leader's allies say the Jan. 10 inauguration date laid out in the constitution is just a "formality."  They say Chavez, who has not been heard from for almost a month after complex cancer surgery in Cuba, can take office when his health allows.

His adversaries say that would be running roughshod over the constitution as the former soldier remains in Havana and appears too weak to return to Venezuela after winning re-election in October for a third six-year term.

"If the president of the republic does not take office (on Jan. 10), the country cannot be left in a power vacuum," said Tomas Guanipa of the opposition Justice First party, insisting Congress head Diosdado Cabello should be temporarily sworn in.

The dispute centers on an article of the constitution that says a president-elect should be sworn in on Jan. 10 but does not say what happens if the inauguration does not take place that date.

The official position is that Chavez is fulfilling his duties as head of state despite a severe respiratory infection that has at times left him struggling to breathe. He has not been seen in public or in a lived broadcast since his surgery.

The government, which has refused to discuss having Chavez temporarily step aside as he recovers, is providing only terse statements with bare-bones details of his condition.

Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com

Television networks have for days aired contrasting interpretations of the constitutional articles in question, with the opinions of constitutional lawyers and ad hoc experts now filling social networks.

It remains unclear what the opposition intends to do if Chavez doesn't show up on inauguration day.

But National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello warned the opposition not to try to stir up trouble. Speaking to reporters alongside Maduro on Monday, he called for the government's supporters to demonstrate in the streets of Caracas on Thursday.

Cabello also said at a news conference that some foreign leaders would soon visit Venezuela to express solidarity with Chavez. He didn't give details or identify the presidents.

But Cabello also avoided saying whether the inauguration was definitely being put off. Asked if the government now rules out Chavez being able to make it back on time for the inauguration, Cabello said: "We don't rule out absolutely anything at all."

Maduro reiterated the government's view that Chavez may be sworn in before the Supreme Court at a later date. Referring to the Catholic Church's leaders, Maduro said he hopes they "maintain a conduct of respect."

Constitutional expert Roman Duque Corredor, a former Supreme Court magistrate, said the constitution is clear that Chavez's inauguration cannot legally be postponed.

Duque said he believes the Supreme Court should now form a board of doctors to determine the president's condition.

Some opposition politicians also say it's time for such a medical team to travel to Havana to determine whether Chavez is fit to remain in office or not.

Opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said on Monday that Chavez's allies have turned to a convoluted interpretation of the constitution for their political aims while they hold sway in the president's absence.

"We don't know who's governing Venezuela now," Borges told the Venezuelan radio station Union Radio.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Leo Ramirez / AFP - Getty Images

The president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello speaks outside the National Assembly in Caracas on Saturday. He was elected Assembly chief on Saturday as President Hugo Chavez recovered from another cancer surgery in Cuba.

Venezuelan lawmakers re-elected a close ally of President Hugo Chavez as Assembly chief on Saturday, paving the way for him to become a caretaker president if the socialist leader does not recover from cancer surgery.

Diosdado Cabello, a combative ex-soldier, was cemented by the “Chavista”-dominated legislature as the third most powerful figure in government, behind Chavez and Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

"As a patriot ... I swear to be supremely loyal in everything I do, to defend the fatherland, its institutions, and this beautiful revolution led by our Comandante Hugo Chavez," Cabello said as he took the oath, his hand on the constitution. 

Chavez was elected in 1999 and was among the first of the so-called “pink tide” of elected leftist leaders in Latin America. He allies himself with the Castro regime in Cuba, President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and Evo Morales in Bolivia. 

In the last 18 months, Chavez, 58, has undergone four surgeries in Cuba, where he is currently recovering. On Thursday, the Venezuelan government said he was suffering from a “severe” respiratory infection that hindered his breathing. The Venezuelan leader has not been seen in public for more than three weeks.

Hours before the vote to re-elect Cabello, thousands of Chavez supporters clad in red gathered, chanting: "We are all Chavez! Our comandante will be well! He will return!" 

If Chavez had to step down, or died, Cabello would take over the running of the country as Assembly president and a new election would be organized within 30 days. Chavez's heir apparent, Maduro, would be the Socialist Party's candidate. 

The opposition says Chavez's absence would be just the latest sign that he is no longer fit to govern. Cabello slammed their criticism.

"Get this into your heads," he shouted. "Hugo Chavez was elected president and he will continue to be president beyond Jan. 10. No one should have any doubt." His fellow Socialist Party lawmakers cheered. 

The opposition, who had days before demanded details of the president’s health, sat stony-faced. One of their legislators had earlier told the session that it was not just the head of state who was ill: "The republic is sick," he said. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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Ariana Cubillos / AP

A man walks past a mural of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Both supporters and opponents of Chavez have been on edge in the past week amid shifting signals from the government about the president's health. Chavez has not been seen or heard from since his Dec. 11 operation, and officials have reported a series of ups and downs in his recovery.

Venezuela's opposition demanded that the government reveal specifics of President Hugo Chavez's condition on Wednesday, criticizing secrecy surrounding the ailing leader's health more than three weeks after his cancer surgery in Cuba.

Opposition coalition leader Ramon Guillermo Aveledo said at a news conference that the information provided by government officials "continues to be insufficient."

Chavez has not been seen or heard from since the Dec. 11 operation, and Vice President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday said the president's condition remained "delicate" due to complications arising from a respiratory infection.

Venezuela's Chavez 'stable' in hospital, son-in-law says

Maduro also urged Venezuelans to ignore rumors about Chavez's condition. Aveledo said the opposition has been respectful during Chavez's illness but that "the secrecy is the source of the rumors."

"They should tell the truth," Aveledo said, noting that Maduro had pledged to provide full reports about Chavez's condition. He reiterated the opposition's call for the government to release a medical report, and said all indications are that Chavez won't be able to be sworn in to begin a new term on Jan. 10.

If Chavez can't take office on that date, Aveledo said the constitution is clear that the National Assembly president should then take over temporarily until a new election is held. He said what happens next in Venezuela should be guided by "the truth and the constitution."

If Chavez dies or is unable to continue in office, the Venezuelan Constitution says a new election should be held within 30 days.

With rumors swirling that Chavez had taken a turn for the worse, Maduro said on Tuesday that he had met with the president twice, had spoken with him and would return to Caracas on Wednesday.

"He's totally conscious of the complexity of his post-operative state and he expressly asked us ... to keep the nation informed always, always with the truth, as hard as it may be in certain circumstances," Maduro said in the prerecorded interview in Havana, which was broadcast Tuesday night by the Caracas-based television network Telesur.

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Both supporters and opponents of Chavez have been on edge in the past week amid shifting signals from the government about the president's health. Officials have reported a series of ups and downs in his recovery — the most recent, on Sunday, announcing that he faced the new complications from a respiratory infection.

'Delicate' health
Maduro did not provide any new details about Chavez's complications during Tuesday's interview. But he joined other Chavez allies in urging Venezuelans to ignore gossip, saying rumors were being spread due to "the hatred of the enemies of Venezuela."

He didn't refer to any rumors in particular, though one circulating online had described Chavez as being in a coma.

Maduro said Chavez faces "a complex and delicate situation." But Maduro also said that when he talked with the president and looked at his face, he seemed to have "the same strength as always."

"All the time we've been hoping for his positive evolution. Sometimes he has had light improvements, sometimes stationary situations," he said.

Maduro's remarks about the president came at the end of an interview in which he praised Cuba's government effusively and touched on what he called the long-term strength of Chavez's socialist Bolivarian Revolution movement. He mentioned that former Cuban President Fidel Castro had visited the hospital where Chavez was treated.

In Bolivia, President Evo Morales said he is concerned about his friend and ally.

"I hope we can see him soon," Morales told reporters at a news conference Wednesday. "But it's a very worrying situation."

"I've tried to make contact with the vice president, and it's been difficult. I hope all of their aims are achieved to save President Chavez's life."

Before his operation, Chavez acknowledged he faced risks and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election was necessary.

Maduro didn't discuss the upcoming inauguration plans, saying only that he is hopeful Chavez will improve.

The vice president said that Chavez "has faced an illness with courage and dignity, and he's there fighting, fighting."

"Someone asked me yesterday by text message: How is the president? And I said, 'With giant strength,'" Maduro said. He recalled taking Chavez by the hand: "He squeezed me with gigantic strength as we talked."

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Miraflores Press via EPA

Hugo Chavez, left, and Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro talk during a national broadcast in Caracas, Venezuela on Saturday. Chavez said that he will return to Cuba to undergo further cancer surgery. He also said that if his health was to deteriorate and new elections were to be held, his supporters should vote for Maduro.

CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday he would undergo another cancer operation after doctors in Cuba found a third recurrence of malignant cells in his pelvic area.

The news is a big blow for his supporters in South America's biggest oil exporter, who elected him in October to a new six-year term in power. Chavez has twice said he was cured, and then had to return to Cuba for more surgery.

In a televised broadcast flanked by ministers at the Miraflores presidential palace, Chavez said that if anything happened to him and a new vote had to be held, his supporters should vote for Vice President Nicolas Maduro - the first time the socialist leader has named a successor.

Chavez returned to Venezuela on Friday from having medical treatment in Cuba, ending a three-week absence from public view.

"Unfortunately, during these exhaustive exams they found some malignant cells in the same area ... . It is absolutely necessary, absolutely essential, that I have to undergo a new surgical intervention," the 58-year-old said, looking resolute.

"With God's will, like on the previous occasions, we will come out of this victorious."

The president has already had three cancer operations in Cuba since the middle of last year. News of more surgery will likely raise new doubts about his future and the fate of his self-styled "revolution" in the OPEC nation.
Chavez, who has dominated Venezuelan politics since taking power 14 years ago, said he would return to Havana on Sunday.

Under Venezuela's constitution, an election would have to be held within 30 days if Chavez were to leave office within the first four years of his next term, due to begin on Jan. 10.

The president has been receiving treatment at the Cimeq hospital in Havana as a guest of his friend and political mentor, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Slideshow: Hugo Chavez through the years

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The life of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez from his rise as a lieutenant colonel after his failed coup attempt in 1992.

Launch slideshow

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Updated at 3:30 p.m. ET: TRIPOLI - The former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people has died, his son told NBC News on Sunday. He was 60.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi died at home after his health quickly deteriorated. "He has been suffering from cancer for a long time and God choose him," Khalid al-Magrahi told NBC.

"He was too sick to utter anything on his death bed," his brother Abdel Hakim told Reuters. "Just because Abdel Baset is dead doesn't mean the past is now erased. We will always tell the world that my brother was innocent.''

Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew to New York from London. All 259 people aboard the airliner were killed and 11 others on the ground in the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, died from falling wreckage.

Scotland freed him in 2009 on compassionate grounds because he was suffering from advanced terminal prostate cancer and thought to have months to live. 

Reuters

Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi speaks during an interview at his home in Tripoli on Oct. 3, 2011. He was transferred to hospital on April 13, 2012 after his health deteriorated quickly.

His release angered many relatives of the victims, 189 of whom were American, and the Obama administration criticized the decision.

Many speculated that a backdoor deal had been cut between the former regime of Moammar Gadhafi and the British government. With the fall of the Gadhafi regime in 2011, many in the U.S. and U.K. called on the new Libyan leaders to extradite Megrahi to serve out the remainder of his prison term, something Libya's ruling National Transitional Council refused to do.

Al-Megrahi, who served as an intelligence agent during the rule of Gadhafi, denied any role in suspected human rights abuses in his home country before Gadhafi's fall and death in a popular uprising last year. 

In April, al-Megrahi's condition worsened and he was taken to a private hospital to receive a transfusion of eleven liters of blood, but subsequently felt strong enough to return home. 

Megrahi's older brother, Mohamed, said the funeral will be after the noon prayer on Monday. He will be buried in Al Zagawani cemetary in Janzour, 12 miles west of Tripoli. Megrahi's house was filled Sunday with family members, relatives and neighbors paying condolences, NBC News reported.

The White House said that the death would not end the quest for justice for the families of the 270 people killed.

"Megrahi's death concludes an unfortunate chapter following his release from prison in 2009 on medical grounds - a move we strongly opposed,'' said White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor.

"We want to see justice for the victims of the Lockerbie bombing and their families. We will continue working with our new partners in Libya toward a full accounting of Gadhafi's horrific acts,'' Vietor said.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer on Sunday criticized the Scottish government for allowing al-Megrahi to die a free man in what he said "smelled of a deal for oil.''

Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on CNN that the death of al-Megrahi meant the full truth about the Pan Am bombing may never be known.

"Both the Scottish and British governments have not been forthcoming,'' Schumer said. "The whole deal smelled of a deal for oil for this man's freedom and that was almost blasphemy given what a horrible person he was and the terrible destruction and tragedy that he caused. I don't know if we'll ever get to the bottom of it now.''

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in opposition when al-Megrahi was freed, said in Chicago, where he was attending the NATO summit: "I've always been clear he should never have been released from prison.

''Today is a day to remember the 270 people who lost their lives in what was an appalling terrorist act. Our thoughts should be with them and their families for the suffering they've had."

Jim Swire, the father of one of the British Lockerbie victims, said he was convinced al-Megrahi was innocent.

''I've been satisfied for some years that this man had nothing to do with the murder of my daughter and I grit my teeth every time I hear newscasters say 'Lockerbie bomber has died,'" he told BBC News television. ''This is a sad day."

NBC News, msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report. 

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Miraflores Palace via Reuters

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a Council of Ministers meeting in Havana on March 11, 2012. Chavez will return home next week from Cuba where he is recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.

Chatting for more than two hours in a televised address from Havana, where he is recovering from a third surgery to treat cancer in his pelvic area, Chavez seemed eager to show he is fully in command of the government despite his illness.

"Today we are in the 13th day post-operation, with completely normal vital signs, a good general state of health and with no complications, good scarring, daily monitoring, rehabilitation and long walks," he said, reading off a document with details about his cancer treatment.

"In the coming weeks we will start the already announced phase of radiation therapy," Chavez said wearing a windbreaker with the colors of the Venezuelan flag.

During his recovery he said he was reading many books, quoting from a thick volume by Marxist philosopher Istvan Meszaros.

Since arriving in Cuba on Feb. 24, Chavez has been firing off upbeat tweets, meeting with foreign leaders and phoning state TV, in what could be preparation for a triumphant homecoming.

"God willing, next Sunday afternoon I will be in Caracas," the 57-year-old leader said at the end of the pre-recorded broadcast.

Tough campaign ahead
Chavez linked up via satellite with his vice president and other ministers back in Venezuela presiding over the inaugurations of government projects, like a chicken farm jointly owned with an Argentine company.

He approved the issue of a bond in local currency for some $2.325 million due between 2015 and 2017 to spend in the agricultural sector with the participation of a government fund and state oil company PDVSA.

According to analysts, those bonds will be bought by local banks to replace government-mandated quotas of agriculture sector loans, which banks have been struggling to meet.

Venezuela's leftist government is on a massive spending push, funded by oil dollars from the coffers of South America's largest crude exporter, to win over poor voters with popular welfare programs, including job training and new housing units.

The side effects from radiation may slow down Chavez's gregarious on-the-street campaigning style - where he is known to meet with recipients of the state's largess in person - just as he faces a formidable race against 39-year old opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.

He may instead have to fall back on "virtual campaigning" through frequent Twitter posts, pre-recorded televised speeches and phone calls to state television.

Little is known about what kind of cancer the president has or how serious it is, but medical experts say the radiation treatment could take a heavy physical toll.

Capriles, a former state governor, won a strong mandate in a primary election last month and is expected to contrast his energetic and youthful image with Chavez's convalescence.

Opinion polls show Chavez, in power since 1999 and omnipresent in the media, still has the edge over Capriles in voter enthusiasm, although roughly a third of the electorate is still undecided.