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Official Events Mark Eight Months since Hugo Chavez’s Passing

On Tuesday 5 November events were held in Venezuela and countries around the world to mark eight months since the death of Hugo Chavez.

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On Tuesday 5 November events were held in Venezuela and countries around the world to mark eight months since the death of Hugo Chavez. Officials and supporters of the late Venezuelan president paid tribute to his legacy, arguing that he had rescued the country’s sovereignty and championed policies to reduce poverty and empower the poor.

President Nicolas Maduro, who was foreign minister under Chavez and was elected to office in April this year, led a ceremony in the Barracks of the Mountain in Caracas. The site is symbolic as it is from there that the then-army coronel Chavez first emerged into the national spotlight when he launched a coup attempt against the neoliberal government of Carlos Andres Perez on 4 February 1992. Also known as the Military History Museum, the site is Chavez’s current resting place.

During the ceremonies, Maduro proposed creating a system of museums and cultural programs to preserve Chavez’s legacy and political thought. “We must reconstruct Chavez’s route as a living path; he passed through the whole world, and where he went, he planted love,” Maduro said.

Official events took place in Venezuelan embassies across the world. Meanwhile Bolivian president Evo Morales this week unveiled a statue in honour of his former friend and ally, and a range of other events were held to mark eight months since Chavez’s passing, such as a baseball tournament (Chavez’s favourite sport) in Frankfurt, Germany, in which players from a range of Latin American countries participated. T/Venezuelanalysis.com