Chavez body moved to museum on hillside
Source: Agencies |
March 17, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HUNDREDS of thousands of Venezuelans were on the streets again on Friday at a funeral parade for Hugo Chavez amid opposition protests that the government was exploiting his death to win the election.
Chavez's remains were transported for about 20 kilometers through Caracas from an army academy to a military museum on a hillside where the former soldier launched his political career with a failed coup in 1992.
The events were the culmination of 10 days of official mourning in the South American OPEC nation led by the flamboyant socialist president for 14 years until his death from cancer.
A state funeral was held a week ago.
"You are a giant," his daughter Maria Gabriela said in an emotional religious service before the procession began.
"Fly freely and breathe deep with the winds of the hurricane. We will care for your fatherland and defend your legacy. You will never leave, your flame is in our hands." Though his remains will for now be placed in the museum on the edge of the populous January 23 neighborhood - arguably the most militantly pro-Chavez zone in the country - there was still doubt over his final resting place.
The government wanted to embalm Chavez "for eternity" in the style of Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin and China's Mao Zedong. But officials said the process should have started earlier and confirmed on Friday that it had been ruled out.
Crowds of red-shirted "Chavistas" lined the streets for Friday's parade. Some wore headbands with the name of acting President Nicolas Maduro, who was picked by Chavez as his preferred successor. He is running in an April 14 vote.
The opposition, whose presidential candidate Henrique Capriles faces a tough battle to beat Maduro amid so much emotion over Chavez, says the government is mawkishly protracting the mourning and exploiting his coffin as a campaign prop.
Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who views Brazil as his model, plans to begin campaigning around the country over the weekend.
"We urge those indiscriminately using the president's name for the capture of votes to halt this perverse method of electoral proselytism," an opposition communique said.
That, many analysts say, looks unlikely given the government's vast superior financial resources and pro-government supporters' dominance of state institutions.
Chavez's remains were transported for about 20 kilometers through Caracas from an army academy to a military museum on a hillside where the former soldier launched his political career with a failed coup in 1992.
The events were the culmination of 10 days of official mourning in the South American OPEC nation led by the flamboyant socialist president for 14 years until his death from cancer.
A state funeral was held a week ago.
"You are a giant," his daughter Maria Gabriela said in an emotional religious service before the procession began.
"Fly freely and breathe deep with the winds of the hurricane. We will care for your fatherland and defend your legacy. You will never leave, your flame is in our hands." Though his remains will for now be placed in the museum on the edge of the populous January 23 neighborhood - arguably the most militantly pro-Chavez zone in the country - there was still doubt over his final resting place.
The government wanted to embalm Chavez "for eternity" in the style of Soviet leaders Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin and China's Mao Zedong. But officials said the process should have started earlier and confirmed on Friday that it had been ruled out.
Crowds of red-shirted "Chavistas" lined the streets for Friday's parade. Some wore headbands with the name of acting President Nicolas Maduro, who was picked by Chavez as his preferred successor. He is running in an April 14 vote.
The opposition, whose presidential candidate Henrique Capriles faces a tough battle to beat Maduro amid so much emotion over Chavez, says the government is mawkishly protracting the mourning and exploiting his coffin as a campaign prop.
Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who views Brazil as his model, plans to begin campaigning around the country over the weekend.
"We urge those indiscriminately using the president's name for the capture of votes to halt this perverse method of electoral proselytism," an opposition communique said.
That, many analysts say, looks unlikely given the government's vast superior financial resources and pro-government supporters' dominance of state institutions.
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