The revolutionary that Chávez could not control dies at 53

Lina Ron, a controversial figure who emerged in the Venezuelan political scene following President Hugo Chávez's first election win in 1998, and who advocated violence in the name of the "revolution," died suddenly on Saturday at the age of 53.

Forensic officials said the cause of death was a heart attack but many noted journalists in Venezuela, quoting official sources, have reported that Ron died from an overdose of tranquilizers.

Using the Venezuelan flag as her symbol, Ron would often criticize her "comrades for bedding down with the comforts of life" instead of fighting for Chávez's Socialist revolution. Her vociferous rhetoric was filled with such leftist words and phrases such as "socialism or death" and "homeland and victory."

She often addressed Chávez publicly on an equal basis. The Venezuelan leader at one point called her "uncontrollable."

Born in Anaco, a city in northeast Venezuela, Ron worked in a department store before becoming the leader of a small radical leftwing party called the Venezuelan People's Union (UPV).

In Caracas, the UPV's headquarters was the gathering point for many single mothers who didn't have enough money to bury a family member, or elderly people who didn't have a place to go. Using her influence, Ron would tear through government bureaucracy to help them.

But she was also committed to what she called destroying "the enemies of the Revolution." Among her supporters was a motorcycle unit of armed riders who would often take to the streets of Caracas and regularly break up student and opposition protests.

Ron's quick fall from the political scene came in 2009 when she accompanied her armed motorcycle riders and attacked the studios of Globovisión, the private television network that has been critical of Chávez's government.

A video of the attack was posted on the station's website that shows Ron throwing teargas inside the network's studios and threatening Globovisión employees with a weapon.

Up until that incident, many people in Venezuela considered Ron a folkloric figure.

Jail time

Following the attack, she spent three months in jail. Chávez admitted that while he considered Ron "a good person" she appeared to lean toward anarchy.

In the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables from the US Embassy in Caracas, Ron is blamed for 28 violent incidents in the country.

During a speech on Saturday, Chávez praised her in front of her coffin. "You loved me and I loved you with true radical love. You scolded me at times and I scolded you, but that scolding was an act of love."