The Venezuelan government on Wednesday sent a message of condolence to the government and people of Ghana on the death of President John Atta Mills, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
"President Hugo Chavez joins all the Ghanaian people in mourning and sends his most heartfelt condolence to the family and friends of the African leader," said the statement.
The statement recalled Mills' visit to Venezuela in September 2009 for the second South America-Africa Summit (SAAS), where the Ghanaian president met with his Venezuelan counterpart.
The cause of the 68-year-old president's sudden death on Tuesday was not specified, but international media reported he had suffered "pain" the night before.
Mills, who had traveled to the United States for nine days in June for a medical check-up, was suffering from throat cancer, according to the local media.
The late Ghanaian president "followed the legacy of the great Pan-African Kwame Nkrumah and led his country through the path of social and economic progress," said the statement.
In 2011 Ghana's economy grew at 14.4 percent boosted by new oil production and a rebounded construction sector. With oil production reaching its plateau, GDP growth in 2012 is expected to decelerate to 7.5 percent predicted by the World Bank.
The Foreign Ministry statement concluded with Venezuela's commitment to strengthening ties of cooperation with Ghana, "with which it expects to continue building the multilateral and peaceful world in which Latin America and Africa will see the ultimate well-being of their people."
<<Print>>