Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki expressed his condolences to the Venezuelan people over the death of their President Hugo Chavez, the official TAP press agency reported on Wednesday.

In a statement released by the presidency of the Tunisian republic, Marzouki praised the late Venezuelan president "who strove to set a fairer social policy, defended his people's causes and fought exclusion and poverty."

"History will retain the qualities of the late president and his contribution to the complementarity and integration between southern American peoples, as well as his firm support to the Palestinian people," the statement said. Endi