National Day of Mourning today for Chavez

Mar 08, 2013 News

– Ramotar wings out for funeral

Today has been designated a National Day of Mourning as Venezuela prepares to bury its former leader Hugo Chavez in what is believed will be the biggest funeral Latin America has seen since Evita Peron.

Hugo Chavez

The political impresario was widely adored among Venezuela’s poor for putting the oil-rich state in their service. He died on Tuesday at the age of 58.
The funeral is being attended by President Donald Ramotar and over a dozen international leaders including Iran’s Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Argentina’s Cristina Fernández and Spain’s Prince Felipe, son of Juan Carlos, the king who famously told Chávez to shut up.
There is uncertainty about where Chávez would be buried, though he often said he wished to be buried on the plains – los Llanos – of his home state Barinas.
For today’s National Day of Mourning, flags on all state institutions would be flown at half-mast, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon announced yestetrday
President Ramotar left Guyana yesterday for today’s funeral.
Considerable pageantry is expected to honour Chávez.
Seven days of mourning were declared and school was suspended for the week.
In a message subsequent to the news of Chavez’s death, President Ramotar said he was deeply saddened by the passing of a leader whom he regarded as a great friend of Guyana, and who inspired harmony and solidarity between the two countries.
As a beneficiary to Chavez’s PetroCaribe Agreement, Guyana built on progress in trade relations with Venezuela after signing off on rice exportation agreements.