Venezuela Marks One Year Without Chavez

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez holds up copy of Granma newspaper in Cuba. Chavez was in the country for medical treatment., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Venezuela marks one year without Chavez

March 6, 2014

CARACAS. — Venezuela yesterday marked one year since Hugo Chavez died, with his successor set to lead ceremonies for the “eternal comandante” whose socialist revolution is now facing persistent opposition protests.

After a month of sometimes deadly demonstrations, President Nicolas Maduro will oversee a parade showing off the government’s military might before a ceremony at the former barracks where the late leader is entombed.

But anti-government students and the opposition intend to rain on the parade, announcing new protests to keep pressure on Maduro’s nearly year-old administration.

At least 18 people have died since early February in protests that Maduro has denounced as a US-backed plot by “fascists” to overthrow him.

Maduro urged Venezuelans to pay tribute to the man he dubs the “eternal commandante” in “peace and with love.”

Three of Chavez’s leftist allies in the region, Presidents Raul Castro of Cuba, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua flew to Caracas.

After arriving, Castro laid a white rose on Chavez’s marble tomb in the Mountain Barracks which sit atop the hillside January 23 slum renowned as a government stronghold.

One of Chavez’s Hollywood fans, US film-maker Oliver Stone, will premiere his documentary “My Friend Hugo” on the government-funded Telesur network.

After 14 years in power, Chavez lost his battle with cancer on March 5, 2013, at the age of 58, leaving behind a country sharply divided by his oil-funded socialist revolution.

His image is on billboards and walls throughout Caracas while his speeches can be heard on national TV or speakers blasting from the January 23 slum.

Chavez retains a religious-like following among his supporters. Maduro himself refers to his mentor’s “physical departure” a year ago, suggesting that his spirit lives on.

While the protests have concentrated on the east side of Caracas, the western slums remain government bastions, but some Chavistas say Maduro’s fate is linked to the revolution that Chavez started.

— AFP.