Former Venezuelan prez dies at 93
CARACAS: Former Venezuelan president Rafael Caldera, who handed the nation's highest office over to Hugo Chavez in 1999 then went on to oppose him, died Thursday after a long illness, his family said. He was 93.
Caldera was a dominant figure in Venezuelan politics for much of the late 20th century, serving as president from 1969 to 1974 and again from 1994 to 1999.
His son Andres Caldera Pietri said the family "will not accept any tribute from the government" of Hugo Chavez.
During his second term as president he pardoned Chavez, who was serving prison time for launching a failed military coup in 1992.
The late ex-president was a founder and leading figure in the conservative COPEI party, and ran for president several times starting in 1947.
Caldera was also a key member of a 1958 pact between Venezuela's three leading political parties that effectively limited power until Chavez's presidency.
An attorney by training, Caldera is credited with reaching a truce with armed leftist groups that clashed with the government in the 1960s and 1970s.