The death of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez was a "big loss for me personally and for the Syrian people, as much as it's a big loss for the people of Venezuela and the honest people in the world," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a letter of condolence sent to the Venezuelan vice president Wednesday.

According to the state media, Assad said that Chavez had " embodied legendary steadfastness in the face of the United States' attempts to control the peoples and the countries, and was able to preserve Venezuela's sovereignty and prevented interference in its affairs."

Chavez died Tuesday in a military hospital in Caracas after struggling with cancer over the past two years.

The long-time anti-U.S. leader had emerged as a supporter of Syria's Assad administration and blamed the Syrian crisis on a conspiracy led by the United States.

Late last year, Chavez said at a news conference that "the government of the United States is one of those most responsible for this (Syrian crisis) disaster."

Venezuelan officials has said that the state oil company sent three shipments of diesel fuel to aid Syria.

"How can we not support the government of Bashar al-Assad if it 's the legitimate government of Syria?" Chavez said in October 2012. Endi

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