Former Venezuelan President Perez Dead At 88
MIAMI (CBS4) -- The former president of Venezuela, Carlos Andres Perez, died Christmas day in a Miami hospital.
Perez, 88, who governed the South American country from 1974-79 and again from 1989-93, was living in Miami while fighting the current Venezuelan political establishment's request he be turned over to stand trail for his role in putting down the bloody 1989 riots.
His death was sudden and unexpected, said Maria Francia Perez, his daughter.
"He got up fine in the morning. He was very eloquent, happy, but all of a sudden he couldn't breathe," she told The Associated Press.
Perez later told Venezuelan television channel Globovision that her father had died of a heart attack.
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