VLADIKAVKAZ, March 18 (Itar-Tass) – A mountain peak in North Ossetia is named after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Thirty North Ossetian mountaineers scaled a nameless mountain peak 3,695 meters tall, situated in a gorge on the southern slope of the Caucasus Ridge, to commemorate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the president of the North Ossetian Mountaineering Federation, Kazbek Khamitsayev, told Itar-Tass on Monday.

The mountaineers’ group addressed a request to Taimuraz Mamsurov, the head of the republic, to name the mountain peak after Hugo Chavez who had played a big part in the recognition of South Ossetia’ sovereignty.

Khamitsayev said a portrait of Hugo Chavez had been placed on the peak. The group plans to ascend the peak again when snow melts to place a stone with the words on it: “In Memory of Hugo Chavez”.

Khamitsayev has said the peak now bears “the name of the real hero, the leader of his people.” “We highly appreciate Hugo Chavez’s love of South Ossetia. He was the first to recognize its independence,” he said.

Hugo Chavez died on March 5 after a prolonged grave illness at the age of 59.