In March of 2013, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela died from “pelvic cancer” according to the official reports. Two years earlier during a televised speech to a large national audience Chavez had cursed Israel three times, saying that he cursed Israel from his viscera. This speech was recorded in many widely circulated videos (see for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt4FLhr0Yq0).
Why is this significant? President Chavez went against God’s Word. The Lord is a covenant-keeping God. He established a covenant with Abraham, and one of His promises to Abraham was “I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you” (Genesis 12:3). Isaiah 55:11 states “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
In addition to going against God’s Word, Chavez did so in a very public forum. Public sin tarnishes God’s name and carries even greater consequences than “private” sin. So exactly one year – to the day – after Chavez’s declaration against Israel, he was diagnosed with cancer and died the following year.
In an interesting turn of events, “when Mr. Chavez returned home after his last cancer treatment in Cuba, he made an impassioned plea to God for help. Standing in front of an image of Jesus with the Crucifix, he prayed on national television, “Give me your crown, Jesus. Give me your cross, your thorns so that I may bleed. But give me life, because I have more to do for this country and these people. Do not take me yet.” (quote from http://www.denisonforum.org/cultural-commentary/653-the-significance-of-hugo-chavezs-death-and-faith). There will be many surprises in heaven, and if Hugo Chavez’s last-minute repentance was sincere, he may be among the ranks of the saved.
The thief on the cross repented. May G-d have mercy