Russia pays tribute to Hugo Chavez with new postage stamp

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to issue a special postage stamp to commemorate the 60th birthday of the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. In a meeting with Venezuela’s incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, during his recent tour of Latin America, Putin pointed out that Chavez already had a street in Moscow named after him.

He added: “The tasks set by Chavez to develop relations between Russia and Venezuela are being fulfilled.” During his lifetime, Chavez, who was highly critical of US economic and foreign policy, was on friendly terms with Putin, with both countries enjoying closer military and energy ties in recent years.