Republican lawmaker reacts to death of Hugo Chavez: ‘Sic semper tyrannis’

Chris Moody
·Political Reporter

Reacting to the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Tom Cotton called his passing "welcome news" and evoked the Latin phrase that John Wilkes Booth famously shouted after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

"Sic semper tyrannis," Cotton said in a statement, which means "thus ever to tyrants." "After the welcome news of Hugo Chavez’s death, I hope that the oppressed people of Venezuela will be able to live in freedom, not under miserable tyranny. I look forward to working in the House to promote a free, democratic, and pro-American government in Venezuela," he said.

Chavez died on Tuesday after a two-year bout with cancer.