Chavez body to go on permanent display

[El Supremo]

Source: CBS

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuela's acting president says Hugo Chavez's embalmed body will be permanently displayed in a glass casket so that "his people will always have him."

Vice President Nicolas Maduro says the remains will be put on permanent display at the Museum of the Revolution, close to the presidential palace where Chavez ruled for 14 years. Maduro says the president will lie in state first for at least another seven days.

A state funeral for Chavez attended by some 33 heads of government is scheduled to begin Friday morning. Tens of thousands have already filed past his glass-topped casket at a military academy following a seven-hour procession on Tuesday which took his body from the hospital where he died.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57573140/chavez-body-to-go-on-permanent-display/

---

Yuck!

[Cleita]

1. Eva Peron of Argentina?

She was also a controversial leader who bucked the system to help the underclasses.

[El Supremo]

4. I think she was on "private" display.

Just for Juan.

[Cleita]

8. Actually, she was moved around a lot between Spain and Argentina.

Sometimes she was on display and at other times hidden because of fear that her enemies would desecrate her body. From what I understand her body is still perfectly preserved today.

Final resting place

In 1971, Evita's body was exhumed and flown to Spain, where Juan Perón maintained the corpse in his home. Juan and his third wife, Isabel, decided to keep the corpse in their dining room on a platform near the table. In 1973, Juan Perón came out of exile and returned to Argentina, where he became president for the third time. Perón died in office in 1974. His third wife, Isabel Perón, whom he had married on 15 November 1961, and who had been elected vice-president, succeeded him, thus becoming the first female president in the Western Hemisphere. It was Isabel who had Evita's body returned to Argentina and (briefly) displayed beside Juan Perón's. The body was later buried in the Duarte family tomb in La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires.

The Argentine government took elaborate measures to make Evita's tomb secure. The tomb's marble floor has a trapdoor that leads to a compartment that contains two coffins. Under that compartment is a second trapdoor and a second compartment. That is where Evita's coffin rests. Biographers Marysa Navarro and Nicholas Fraser write that the claim is often made that Evita's tomb is so secure that it could withstand a nuclear attack. "It reflects a fear," they write, "a fear that the body will disappear from the tomb and that the woman, or rather the myth of the woman, will reappear."[57] This cemetery, which is located in the northern part of barrio Recoleta, also holds the remains of many illustrious military generals, presidents, scientists, poets and other affluent Argentinians. There is a saying in Argentina that it costs much more to die than it does to live.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Perón#Final_resting_place

(Sorry I can't seem to fix the link but the Wikipedia article can be accessed through Google.)

[TwilightGardener]

2. Gross.

[slackmaster]

3. Auto-Rec for macabre topic

[Jamastiene]

49. Lol

I had the same gut instinct.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

5. Ridiculous typical tinpot dictator stuff.

Wannabe in this case as he never managed to completely take over all of the institutions of that country, but he came close enough. His successor looks like he's cut from the same, or perhaps an even worse, cloth.

[xocet]

7. Counterpoint: Vaya con Dios Hugo Chavez, Mi Amigo....

Vaya con Dios Hugo Chavez, Mi Amigo
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
By Greg Palast

...

Chavez himself told me he was stunned by Bush's attacks: Chavez had been quite chummy with Bush Senior and with Bill Clinton.

So what made Chavez suddenly "a dangerous enemy"? Here's the answer you won't find in The New York Times:

Just after Bush's inauguration in 2001, Chavez' congress voted in a new "Law of Hydrocarbons." Henceforth, Exxon, British Petroleum, Shell Oil and Chevron would get to keep 70% of the sales revenues from the crude they sucked out of Venezuela. Not bad, considering the price of oil was rising toward $100 a barrel.

But to the oil companies, which had bitch-slapped Venezeula's prior government into giving them 84% of the sales price, a cut to 70% was "no bueno." Worse, Venezuela had been charging a joke of a royalty – just one percent – on "heavy" crude from the Orinoco Basin. Chavez told Exxon and friends they'd now have to pay 16.6%.

...

http://www.gregpalast.com/vaya-con-dios-hugo-chavez-mi-amigo/#more-7874

[niyad]

20. oh, but you see, this article doesn't count, because palast refers to him as "mi amigo", and

therefore is biased, and therefore, nothing he says is true. only the anti-chavez stuff is true.

[xocet]

48. No doubt... n/t

[Benton D Struckcheon]

22. I don't know the economics...

...but heavy crude is the same stuff that Canada has in their oil sands. This would make it hard to extract and refine. So yeah, if you raise the royalty to something the guys who actually developed the capacity to extract it in the first place think is uneconomic, they'll leave. No surprise there.
Yeah, they're in business to make money. Oh my. So am I and so are you, even if you're a worker selling your wages. What you're selling is the skills and experience you bring to the job you're hired for. You would not accept a less than market rate for your work, and neither would these guys. Simple stuff. This is not an issue of these guys not being willing to do the work to extract the stuff, or doing it in some unsafe way - although no doubt they would if they could get away with it - this is an issue of them being unwilling to do work they won't get paid for. I find nothing wrong with that, any more than I would find anything wrong with Wal-Mart workers shutting that place down to get paid properly. Which I wish they would. But that's another story.

[dbackjon]

9. Yup - cancer stopped him before he completely turned into Lenin or Mao

[Comrade Grumpy]

26. Do you ever have anything of substance to say? Or just blather and insults?

[dbackjon]

31. I have plenty to say

I don't idolize or extol murderous dictators, which you seem to be in the business of.

Do you do anything besides that?

[LeighAnn]

44. Who did he kill?

I never heard of this. I thought he brought a lot of health care and food to the poor, etc. I never heard about him killing people

[SkyDaddy7]

54. Chavez ran half the Jews out of the country...

Jews were harassed & had property taken so much that half the Jews left the country!

To me, that is enough to warrant him as a dictator...Not to mention the property he took from others, the way he manipulated the press, etc., all signs of a dictator. Plus, he supported 7 was friends with every single dictator on the planet.

[2ndAmForComputers]

85. Oh, that takes the cake. Sources please.

[MADem]

87. I'm afraid there's evidence to support the comments.

Emigration
In 2007, it was reported that emigration had resulted in a drop of up to a fifth of Venezuela's 20,000 strong Jewish population[8] amid concerns of rising allegations of antisemitism.[4][9][10][11][12] In the first few years of the 21st century, the number of Venezuelan Jews emigrating to Israel was shown to have steadily grown.[13] By November 2010, more than half of Jewish Venezuelans had left the country since Chavez came to power, with some of those remaining behind complaining of "official antisemitism".[14] In early 2013, leaked papers revealed that Venezuelan intelligence had been spying on the country's Jewish community.[15] Many Venezuelan Jews went to Israel, while others went to the United States and Colombia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Venezuela

[2ndAmForComputers]

88. Well, let me take a look at the links provided there...

...yep. Thought so.

[MADem]

89. What did you think? That half the population didn't leave?

That vandalism didn't happen?

Sorry--you're non-response is instructive. "I don't like the source" doesn't change the facts.

[SkyDaddy7]

92. Sure, no problem...

First, I am sure you are aware of a thing we call the "Right Wing Bubble" where most folks on the Right only read & listen to what they want to hear rather than what is actually going on...REALITY. This leaves them completely ignorant & looking foolish at election time. Well, the EXACT SAME THING takes place on the Left but no where near as wide spread as the Right...Basically, some on the Left tend to retreat to their political bubble only when it comes to certain issues Chavez being one of the biggest. The truly SAD part is many on the Left, many of MY fellow Liberals, are far more willing to turn a blind eye to all the crimes & human rights violations Chavez is guilty of simply because Chavez publicly attacked Bush & attempted to do some things for the poor in his country. SAD SAD SAD!!! That, or they claim any not so flattering news about Chavez is a lie meant to discredit the man who does no wrong. SAD SAD SAD!!!

Chavez is NOT someone who deserves praise...Sure he did some things that were meant to help the poor but folks seem to think that & his public criticism of Bush excuses him of any wrong doing regardless of what he does...The SAD thing is far too many here on DU BLINDLY praise this man despite many of the evil & undemocratic things he did.

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/03/05/1678661/why-democrats-shouldnt-eulogize-hugo-chavez/?mobile=nc

The Anit-Defamation League was not too impressed with Chavez's antisemitism...
http://www.adl.org/israel-international/latin-america/c/anti-semitism-in-venezuela.html#.UUIuqvWZw2g

http://archive.adl.org/main_International_Affairs/venezuela_anti_semitism_report.htm?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_3

"Today, tensions exist between the government of Hugo Chávez and the Jewish community, and as much as half of the community has emigrated in recent years. When Chávez took power in 1999 there were approximately 22,000 Jews in Venezuela—today that number sits between 9,500 and 14,000.[1] This has led leading the Jewish Community Educational System to close one of the two large Jewish schools in Venezuela, leaving only two in the country, one large, and one small orthodox school. Currently at the large school, in some elementary grades, there are only around 40 students, down from an average of 130 students per grade of years past."

"By November 2010, more than half of Jewish Venezuelans had left the country since Chavez came to power, with some of those remaining behind complaining of "official antisemitism".[14] In early 2013, leaked papers revealed that Venezuelan intelligence had been spying on the country's Jewish community.[15] Many Venezuelan Jews went to Israel, while others went to the United States and Colombia."

Much more detail here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Venezuela
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Venezuela#Emigration

Another article that goes into great detail on Chavez's antisemitism...
http://www.policymic.com/articles/29236/hugo-chavez-s-real-legacy-is-one-of-vicious-anti-semitism-against-the-jews-of-venezuela

If you are simply going to reply with the self discrediting claim that "...these are all lies by the media to hurt Chavez because he has done so much for the poor" PLEASE DON'T BOTHER.

Now, you let me know if you have any further questions and/or request...

Oh yeah, who took your cake?

[dbackjon]

58. His gangs supressed and murdered the opposition

Yes, Chavez did bring health care to the poo.

His inflationary policies also left the poor less able to afford basic goods, even though wages did rise.

Violent death rate in Ven quintupled under Chavez.

[2ndAmForComputers]

90. Freudian typo is Freudian.

[okieinpain]

47. I think he said all that needed to

be said.

[Warren Stupidity]

63. well that is one explanation for why you all were so ridiculously wrong about chavez.

If only that damn cancer hadn't cut his life short....

[frylock]

15. blah blah blah

[bluedigger]

6. And so the Cult begins.

Horrible idea - this never ends well.

[Travelman]

10. What a bizarre, macabre practice

I've stood in line to go into Lenin's tomb. It was interesting enough to go in there, but frankly the whole thing is just bizarre and macabre. What a strange thing to do!

When I croak, the last thing in the world I would want is to spend a significant portion of eternity (or until the sun goes red giant, which ever comes first) as some taxidermist's freakish experiment on display.

[Cleita]

11. Really? It's no different than a lot of burial customs dating back to the ancient

Egyptians. I keep my husband's ashes in my bedroom. Do you consider that macabre? It actually gives me some comfort to know that a part of him is still with me.

[CatWoman]

12. I have my daughter's ashes in my office

however, putting someone's body on display does give me the creeps

[Cleita]

16. It's not unusual in South America for a VIP type of person to be embalmed and put

on display for a short time. But it could be creepy for those not accustomed to it.

[LeighAnn]

45. I am sorry :(

I'm sorry you lost your daughter

[cali]

50. I think it's emblematic of a serious downside to Chavez's tenure

as I've said before, revolution built almost totally around an individual have a diminished chance at effecting long term change. Cults of personality are not the stuff that a successful revolution is built around.

[JDPriestly]

13. Please tell me this isn't true.

[slackmaster]

14. OK, it's not true.

[Judi Lynn]

17. How I admire someone who takes a good kick at someone when he's dead.

What made you believe this was his idea, anyway? "Make sure I'm always on display, like the right-wing U.S. pampered pet, Fernando Marcos"?

[center][/center]

[Nye Bevan]

30. Who "took a kick" at him?

On edit: I missed the "yuck" on my first reading.

[El Supremo]

34. My "yuck" wasn't directed at Hugo.

Just the culture. I bet Chavez would not have wanted this.

But thanks for speaking up anyway.

[MADem]

39. Maduro is the one who made the announcement-- perhaps you might take it up with him.

I agree with the OP--yuck.

I think it's horrific. A fancy tombstone and a statue that is life-sized or just a bit larger would serve the same purpose, and people could stand next to it and have a picture taken. A plastic-looking corpse of a man who had a very hard and drawn out death is not going to give anyone any solace.

[Blue Owl]

18. And that's the news from Carcas, VZ

n/t

[harkonen]

19. Mao was "done" similarly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Mao_Zedong

--purdy gross...

[Bacchus4.0]

21. why not stuff his head and put it above the mantel in the Ven version of the Oval Office f

that way everytime a new president speaks to the nation people will be comforted by Chavez's fat head.

[obama2terms]

23. Ewww

[olddad56]

24. Here's an idea, why don't we just let the people of Venezuela figure out their own future.

rather that let the oil companies use our government to get their hands on natural resources that don't belong to them.

[awoke_in_2003]

25. Maybe he, Lenin, Stalin...

and the two Kims can go on a world tour

[harmonicon]

27. So, people get pretty mad about cultural differences, huh?

Some of the reactions to this are silly, and some are stupid.

I remember horrified reactions I got from people in England when I told them that open casket funerals were common in the US. They think it's gross. I never thought much about it.

[reorg]

28. Yeah, before watching Six Feet Under

I never knew that Americans are world leaders in the art of embalming and openly display the deceased, looking fresh and colorful again, during funeral services. That would be highly unusual here in Germany, it may even be illegal ...

[joshcryer]

37. I think this is nearly as extreme as you can get though.

Only more extreme is perhaps that artist who displays skinned humans, and their internal muscular form, etc (bodies donated to science). But that's artistic. There is that one method of using vultures to do a sky burial, and while initially extreme by the time it's over I find it poignant. Any sort of burial that allows for the body to dissolve or disappear has closure to it, this is an anti-burial approach, and it's quite out there as far as a burial ritual is concerned.

[cali]

51. are you actually suggesting this is a cultural norm? Because it is not.

and I'll explain once more why this is symbolic of something that is not a good thing: Building a revolution around one person is not the way to build a lasting revolution. Cults of personality and this is undeniably one, are not the stuff a successful revolution is built upon

[harmonicon]

57. It depends by what you mean by "norm."

I'm not - and wasn't - making any point about cults of personality, revolutions, or revolutionaries. Just that there are places where this would involve the kinds of debates you suggest, and then there are places where the reaction is "ewwww, a dead body."

[joshcryer]

66. It certainly falls out of Latin American burial norms.

It was said people would be shocked at American open casket funerals, fair enough, but within our culture that is normal. Within Latin American culture a typical Catholic burial ritual is normal, this is certainly not.

It would be as if we had Regan buried outside of traditional norms. Certainly I can't imagine many posters here defending the possibility of Regan being put on display forever as a normal act.

I think Chavez would be against this full stop. I can't believe his family is even behind it. A $140 million Mausoleum was built to house Bolivar's remains. I suspect that honestly Chavez would've preferred to rest next to Bolivar and not be on display as a spectacle to be gawked at. The idea that Miami vultures would be taking pictures next to his body making disrespectful poses would probably have disgusted him.

[Bay Boy]

76. I would assume it was Chavez's wish to be displayed

that way. Kind of the ultimate ego trip thinking that "the people deserve to gaze at me forever".

[joshcryer]

79. He was quite opposed to the "living bodies" display.

I think he would have been against this and I don't think there's any indication that he'd be for it.

Listen to his tone here:

"barbaric and gruesome"

[CanSocDem]

62. You should stop worrying....

...about the "revolutions" of other countries and the means by which they are achieved. You're not exactly speaking from a position of authority or experience. One charismic personality achieves more than flipping back and forth between two corporate-owned political poseurs serving everything BUT the public interest.

Get back to us when the USA has achieved a public health system and when you are no longer governed by the petro-chemical industry. Until then, you should be concerned with your own cult-like devotion to the free market.

.

[MADem]

64. A DUer comments on an unelected "Vice President" stuffing a dead leader and displaying him like

Roy Rogers' Trigger, and that is all you have to say? You're not speaking from a position of any "authority" either--so you've got some moxie dressing down anyone else who desires to comment on this perverse turn of events.

You might try following the topic at hand. We're not talking about health care--we're talking about the Taxidermy of El Comandante. "Get back to us" when you have something to say on that matter.

[cali]

69. gee, honey, I hate to break this to such a towering intellect but

commenting on is not the same as worrying about. duh.

And no, Candide, one doesn't have to live in the "best of all possible worlds to comment on world events.

gad. pathetic, sweetums.

[CanSocDem]

75. Well then, I'm glad you're not "worried"...

...about the future of Venezuela and the effect of Chavez's leadership. Upon review I see that you are only concerned about schooling us on the basics of 'building a lasting revolution'.

I must have missed the day when you posted your credentials.

Of course, I could just take what you've posted in this thread and surmise that your wisdom in the area of social revolution far exceeds my own.
.......................................................................................

"....revolution built almost totally around an individual have a diminished chance at effecting long term change. Cults of personality are not the stuff that a successful revolution is built around."


"....and I'll explain once more why this is symbolic of something that is not a good thing: Building a revolution around one person is not the way to build a lasting revolution. Cults of personality and this is undeniably one, are not the stuff a successful revolution is built upon"

....................................................................................................

You seem to have no idea about the nature of cults. "Cult of personality"...??? Is this you trying to sound educated?

How about knowing what makes for a "successful revolution"?? I'd like to hear what you, with your vast experience, can tell us. Or is this just more of you tossing around big words and big ideas trying to convince us that American 'Democracy' will lead us to the promised land.

How is that going by the way...????


.

[840high]

29. double yuck.

[Throd]

32. I don't get religion.

That's just fuckin' strange.

[MADem]

71. Chavez is a Roman Catholic and this has nothing to do with that faith. This is a secular thing.

This is more about the "Bolivarian" Religion with Chavez as a god rather than anything having to do with an invisible deity.

[Throd]

73. That was my point. We are witnessing the birth of a new religion.

There are plenty of people here on DU that use their political beliefs as a religion.

[MADem]

74. It's not a new religion--it's a rehash of cults all over--Mao, Ho, Lenin, Stalin, Evita...

I think stuffing a human and displaying them is just awful. I really don't like it for animals, either....the only "stuffed animals" I like are the fake 'taxidermy' ones that talk (moose, deer, fish), stuffed toys, or Teddy Ruxpin.

[David__77]

33. Stalin is buried now... I'm surprised Chavez didn't address this in a will.

Mao asked to be cremated, but his successors violated his wishes as part of the campaign against his ideology. Stalin likewise violated Lenin's wishes to buried in a simple grave.

I'm sure his supporters approve the decision, and so at least it's democratic in a sense.

[onehandle]

41. Who says he didn't? nt

[joshcryer]

42. He ordered the "human bodies" exhibit to be shut down:

Thought it was immoral to display dead bodies like that.

[MADem]

35. Oh jeeeez. It's humid down that way. They'd better make sure they have plenty of generator power

available.


Ugh. Stupid idea. The guy lost 20 kilos, had a hole in his throat, had cancerous bone removed from his spine, was a paraplegic approaching "Weekend at Bernie's" status in his final months...it's just macabre and awful that they are doing this to him. They'll have to coat him in wax to make him look even half-way like he did when he had his health.

Are his family agreeing to this tasteless display?

Whatever happened to a portentous gravestone topped by a sculpture of the diseased, larger than life and at the top of their game? If they're going to go for a dramatic display, that's much less ick-factorish.

[joshcryer]

36. Completely agree.

I would not want my worst enemy to go what Chavez had to endure. What a spectacle.

[Psephos]

38. Ewwww!

How low-rent can it get?

[octothorpe]

40. i know an excellent taxidermist they can use.

I used him for my dog spot and my grammy. He did an amazing job on both. Which is even more amazing considering gram gram was alive (and still is)

[Tarheel_Dem]

43. I guess this is the result of megalomania. Double & triple yuk!!!

[moondust]

46. On mummification:

LENIN AS HE IS TODAY

[Drunken Irishman]

52. Wow....that's fucking disgusting.

[joshcryer]

67. Joke: Lenin on his death bead to Stalin.

Lenin, dying, breathless: Brother Stalin, what if the people do not follow you?
Stalin: My dear comrade, then they will follow you.

[Bay Boy]

77. eww....

...fucking...ewww..

[Rhiannon12866]

53. Like Lenin? I've seen him...

He actually looks awfully good for someone who's been dead since 1924. They need to get the secret from the Russians.

[MADem]

72. From what I understand, the secret is Madame Tussaud's...!

They coat the corpse in beeswax, which can be tinted to handle very subtle variances in fleshtones and can make anything--a statue or a corpse--look very lifelike! It can also be used to fill in chunks that have caved in.

I think it's all quite barbaric. No one wants to be a stuffed toy for future generations. Mao, I am sure, would be appalled.

[Bay Boy]

78. Follow the link on message a#46

and see if your opinion changes.

[yellowcanine]

55. I will not be adding "See the embalmed Chavez" to my bucket list.

The whole notion is unseemly, imo.

[AngryAmish]

56. And when a Venezuelan Sulla takes over I guess he'll get dumped in the river

[Third Doctor]

59. This is a bit much.

This type of necrovoyeurism is disturbing. I doubt Lenin or Chavez would want this.

[Beacool]

60. Morbid.

They should let Chavez rest in peace.

Some mentioned Evita Peron. Evita herself didn't choose to be embalmed and displayed, it was her husband's doing. The Spanish doctor who performed the procedure used techniques that were unique and he never revealed his process. Despite the mistreatment that the body received after Peron was overthrown by a military coup, Evita's body was in excellent shape when recovered decades later. When Peron returned to Argentina in 1974 after years of exile in Spain, he also brought back Evita's body. The travails of her body's placement is quite interesting, but her resting place for years was unknown to Peron himself. The military had, after placing her in various locations, decided that the best move was to ship her to Italy and bury Evita in Milan under a fictitious name. Peron only recovered her body in 1971.

Evita today is resting in her family (the Duarte's) mausoleum in the posh cemetery of La Recoleta in Buenos Aires. Recoleta is similar to Père Lachaise in Paris. Ironically, it's where most of the oligarchy is buried too. I just took a tour of Recoleta last September. It's a very interesting place.

[47of74]

61. Ugh.

[Judi Lynn]

65. To those snickering at this decision to go this route with the body, please read:

Thursday, March 7th 2013- 22:48 UTC
Cristina Fernandez the only leader allowed to visit Chavez in hospital, but declined

~snip~

“Chavez has asked his family that there was to be three days of mourning (as has been implemented) so the people could see him for the last time and then buried in his hometown of Sabaneta, state of Barinas, in his grandmother’s plot”.

For this purpose and since early last year it was agreed with Minister Farruco Sesto to build a small mausoleum in the chosen place. But this week they realized that it was not concluded and Farruco Sesto, ‘a dedicated boot-licker and ass-kisser’, has now suggested the new Simon Bolivar mausoleum next to the National Pantheon, which has been ready for months and still has not been inaugurated.

“To venerate there at the mausoleum the new Bolivarian hero, a decision yet to be announced”, said Bocaranda who admits he wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t become “a kind of Lenin of Ho Chi Minh shrine” and discarded the idea of taking the remains of Chavez to Barinas.

“The military saw this as dangerous because of the manifestations, the spontaneous activists and a general even was concerned the coffin could be stolen. With the presidential figure of Chavez turned into a religious amulet, such a situation could in effect happen linked to the sects and beliefs that have emerged recently based on the presidential media programs and visits of last year”, concluded Bocaranda.

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/03/07/cristina-fernandez-the-only-leader-allowed-to-visit-chavez-in-hospital-but-declined

[joshcryer]

68. Interesting that you quote Bocaranda.

A guy who was slandered here on many occasions despite being the most accurate rumor poster / speculator of them all.

Maduro already made the decision to put Chavez on display.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s acting head of state, said on Thursday that Chavez’s body would be forever displayed inside a glass tomb at a military museum not far from the presidential palace from which the socialist firebrand ruled for 14 years.

“We have decided to prepare the body of our ‘comandante president,’ to embalm it so that it remains open for all time for the people. Just like Ho Chi Minh. Just like Lenin. Just like Mao Zedong,” Maduro said.

Bocaranda predicted this early on (from your article):

“To venerate there at the mausoleum the new Bolivarian hero, a decision yet to be announced”, said Bocaranda who admits he wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t become “a kind of Lenin of Ho Chi Minh shrine” and discarded the idea of taking the remains of Chavez to Barinas.

Bocaranda's view that they were going to bury him in Barinas initially may or may not have been correct and they could've been planning to embalm him all along. So again, I find it interesting that you use him as a source since for the past two years when he was used posters would be slandered for using him as a source. At minimum it'd be called tabloid sourcing, at most right wing propaganda.

[MADem]

70. I don't think most people are snickering--they're appalled at his corpse being turned into

Roy Rogers' Trigger of the Bolivarian Cause.

They should respect the guy's last wishes--they could encase his coffin in concrete if they were afraid his corpse might be stolen.

Also, that poorly written (is it a translation?) article says he died a MONTH ago--which can't be right, since they're talking about making a decision to disconnect him more than two weeks after this article says they did, and unless those proof of life photos with Granma photoshopped the current issue of the newspaper into the picture.

“Since February 22, disconnecting the patient from the mechanical respiratory assistance was considered given the worsening of his condition and ever so precarious health. There were divergences between Chavez mother and his daughters, overwhelmed by the long suffering of their father and a year and a half via crucis of medical treatments and campaigning. After meetings with (Vice-president Nicolas) Maduro and (the president of the National Assembly Diosdado) Cabello they decided to disconnect him February 5”, said Bocaranda.
Once the decision was taken by the most intimate presidential circle, “at 15:05 the respiratory aid was eliminated so that Chavez could die in peace at 16:25 in his bed at the Military Hospital”.

I wonder--did he participate in the decision? Was he even able to participate in the decision? What is "the most intimate Presidential circle?" Maduro and Cabello pull the plug? Was he comatose?

So many questions, so few answers. And so many lies over the past two years.

If there is any accuracy in this version of his disease progression, the people who were saying that he had a sarcoma that had invaded his bones, lungs, etc. and was, in essence, inoperable, were not lying.

[El Supremo]

80. I think we should do this for Reagan! >>

[Zorro]

81. They should put an apple in his mouth

[Bacchus4.0]

83. lol n/t

s

[Bosonic]

82. Acting Venezuela Leader Says It Is Unlikely Hugo Chavez Can Be Embalmed for Long-Term Viewing

Acting Venezuela Leader Says It Is Unlikely Hugo Chavez Can Be Embalmed for Long-Term Viewing

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/acting-venezuela-leader-hugo-chavez-embalmed-long-term-18723117

[Judi Lynn]

84. Doubts over Chavez's permanent display

Doubts over Chavez's permanent display
Last updated 13:05 14/03/2013

Venezuela's acting president says it is highly unlikely Hugo Chavez will be embalmed for permanent viewing because the decision to do so was made too late and the socialist leader's body was not properly prepared on time.

"The decision should have been made much earlier," Nicolas Maduro said during a speech at a government-run book fair.

~snip~
The embalmer, Jaramillo, had one theory as to why the government had apparently changed its mind on embalming.

In several videos recorded before his death, Chavez is seen saying he wishes to be buried in Sabaneta, his hometown.

"He didn't want to be embalmed," said Jaramillo. "Perhaps they took into account some of his wishes."

More:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/8425785/

[El Supremo]

86. Good! Dust to dust...

[MADem]

91. He's beep-beep-beeping, he's backing up so fast!

Obviously the family has had a chance to weigh in and they've said No Effing Way.

Maduro did say what he said, though. He was gonna stuff the guy like Trigger.

His first official decision as The Guy In Charge didn't go so well.