Hezbollah expressed “deep sorrow and sadness before the news of the departure of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela” on Wednesday.

Hezbollah expressed “deep sorrow and sadness before the news of the departure of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela” on Wednesday.

“The free world, the oppressed people and we as well have lost a dear, loyal and supporter friend who spent his life standing by the oppressed and persecuted peoples, and was a bold advocate for Third World countries and their rights in the progress and prosperity," Hezbollah said in a statement.

"Hezbollah, and Lebanon as a whole, cannot forget the support the late sincere President offered to Lebanon in the face of the Zionist enemy during the July 2006 war, as the Arab and Islamic peoples cannot forget his bold position towards the right of the Palestinian people, as well as the right of the Islamic Republic to acquire peaceful nuclear technology."

"President Chavez presented a bulwark in the face of U.S. imperialist policies, without compromising the successive U.S. administrations, or being subjected to their pressures, proving that countries can go on the road to independence and progress without relying on U.S. custody," Hezbollah’s statement read.

Moreover, the Lebanese party of Resistance expressed the most sincere condolences to the family and comrades of the late great leader, and the whole brave Venezuelan people, pledging to stand by their side in this great loss.

"Hezbollah hopes that fellows of President Chaves will succeed to complete his message in maintaining the freedom, the independence and well-being of the Venezuelan people; in supporting the oppressed peoples in the world; and in keeping the approach he had pursued throughout his life to address the American and Zionist conspiracies,” the statement concluded.