A Day of Tears After Chavez Death in Venezuela [View all]
A Day of Tears After Chavez Death in Venezuela
By PAUL HAVEN Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela March 7, 2013 (AP)
By the hundreds of thousands, Hugo Chavez's tearful supporters carried their dead president through streets still plastered with his smiling image, an epic farewell to a larger-than-life leader remembered simply as "our commander."
In a display of raw, and at times, unruly emotion, generations of Venezuelans, many dressed in the red of Chavez's socialist party, filled Caracas' streets Wednesday to remember the man who dominated their country for 14 years before succumbing to cancer.
Chavez's flag-draped coffin floated over hundreds of thousands of supporters as it made its way atop an open hearse on a seven-hour journey to a military academy in the capital. Mourners followed the lead of a grim drum major, with some shouting out "nuestro comandante" as the coffin passed.
At the academy, Chavez's family and close advisers, as well as the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay, attended a funeral Mass before the president's open casket. Later, the public slowly filed past in a show of respect expected to go on late into the night.
More:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/day-tears-chavez-death-venezuela-18671970
= new reply since forum marked as read