Cuba gives Chavez hero's send-off
2013-03-07 22:19
Havana - Cuba's leaders gave Hugo Chavez a send-off fit
for one of their own on Thursday, with huge crowds turning out to pay homage to
the late Venezuelan leader in the Revolution Plaza in Havana and Santiago.
Cuban President Raul Castro, dressed in military uniform,
placed a wreath before an image of Chavez, who died on Tuesday after a long
struggle with cancer, in the ceremony in Santiago, 900km southeast of Havana.
Cuba's new number two, Miguel Diaz-Canel, led another
mass turnout at Havana's vast Revolution Plaza, the iconic public square from
which revolutionary leader Fidel Castro used to address the Cuban people.
Other events memorialising Chavez were to take place in
plazas across Cuba on Thursday, an honour typically reserved for only historic
leaders of the Cuban revolution.
In this case, tradition was set aside to remember a
crucial oil-rich ally whose largesse has kept the communist-ruled island
economically afloat during his 14-year-rule.
During his illness, Chavez was treated almost exclusively
in Cuba where his cancer was first detected in June 2011.
He underwent four rounds of surgery, chemo and radiation
therapy before returning home for the last time 18 February.
After his death in Caracas, the Cuban government declared
that "Chavez is also Cuban" and was hailed as a "true son"
of Fidel Castro.
Cuban flags were lowered to half mast over the colonial
fortresses of Morro and La Cabana overlooking Havana's harbour, and the
government ordered three days of mourning.
On Friday, when Chavez is buried in Venezuela, his
passing will be marked here with a 21-gun salute.
