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The Scene at Hugo Chávez’s Funeral

In case you were wondering…

by
Adam Chandler
March 08, 2013
(AP)
(AP)

Hugo Chávez was buried today in what must have been the hottest event of the Southern Hemisphere this year. Here’s some of what happened in Caracas:

At one point, Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, kissed the coffin, mustering a clenched fist after doing so. Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, shed some tears.

While leaders from an array of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean attended the funeral (along with Prince Felipe of Spain), some were notably absent from the politicized ceremony, in which Vice President Nicolás Maduro placed a replica of a golden sword on Mr. Chávez’s casket to much applause.

Putting the red in the red carpet was a consortium of Chávez’s allies:

The V.I.P. guest list included leftist Latin American presidents like Raúl Castro of Cuba, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, who were among Mr. Chávez’s closest allies.

The United States, despite bearing the brunt of much of Chávez’s rhetorical ire, announced it was sending a delegation that including two congressmen.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.