Hugo Chavez funeral photos: a charismatic bigot who knew his crowd
HUGO Chávez has been lying in state in an open casket in Caracas. The poor looked on and in. Many wept. Elsewhere many wondered what next for the Axis of Diesel, the bond that links Venezuela to Iran, Cuba and Syria. Chavez expressed solidarity with Robert Mugabe, Colonel Gaddafi and President Assad. If you don’t like America – and America is not keen on you – Chavez was an ally-in-waiting. And he had charisma. In 2005, officials from Venezuela signed a deal to send cheap heating oil to the poor of Massachusetts. Local congressman William Delahunt called the deal “an expression of humanitarianism at its very best”. We thought America would get the oil, spin it on the money markets and sell it on at massive profit. It didn’t. Sure, Chavez was a bigot, a racist and violent, but he knew himself and he knew his crowd…
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A woman wrapped in cloths decorating a light post in the colors of Venezuela's flag sleeps outside the military academy where a funeral ceremony will take place for Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, March 8, 2013. Friday's funeral promises to be a final turn on the world stage for Chavez after 14 years in power, though in some ways the former paratrooper is not going anywhere: Venezuela announced Thursday that it would embalm his body and put it on permanent display. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Posted: 9th, March 2013 | In: Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
