Last Years and Death
On 2 February 1999, Rafael Caldera concluded his second term as president, and was succeeded by Hugo Chávez. Although Caldera granted Chávez amnesty and released him from prison (in March 1994), the new president did not exclude him from criticism in his inaugural speech. After the parliamentary elections of 30 July 2000, National Convergence remained with a single representative in the new unicameral National Assembly until 2005.
His poor health caused by Parkinson's disease forced him to retire from politics during his last years. Caldera died around 2 a.m. on 24 December 2009 at the age of 93. His son Andrés Caldera announced the death, but did not specify a cause. His funeral was on 26 December 2009, in Caracas. He was buried the same day.
Read more about this topic: Rafael Caldera
Famous quotes containing the words years and/or death:
“Alas, Postumus, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by.”
—Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65–8 B.C.)
“To die, to sleep—
No more, and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep.
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil
Must give us pause.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)