Posted on 03/30/2013 7:29:53 PM PDT by haffast
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Holding a Bible in her arms at the start of Holy Week, seamstress Maria Munoz waited patiently to visit the tomb of the man she considers another savior of humanity.
The 64-year-old said she had already turned her humble one-bedroom house into a shrine devoted to the late President Hugo Chavez, complete with busts, photos and coffee mugs bearing his image. Now, she said, her brother-in-law was looking for a larger house to display six boxes' worth of Chavez relics that her family has collected throughout his political career.
"He saved us from so many politicians who came before him," Munoz said as tears welled in her eyes. "He saved us from everything."
Chavez's die-hard followers considered him a living legend on a par with independence-era hero Simon Bolivar well before his March 5 death from cancer. In the mere three weeks since, however, Chavez has ascended to divine status in this deeply Catholic country as the government and Chavistas build a religious mythology around him ahead of April 14 elections to pick a new leader.
Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, has led the way, repeatedly calling the late president "the redeemer Christ of the Americas" and describing Chavistas, including himself, as "apostles."
Maduro went even further after Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis earlier this month. Maduro said Chavez had advised Jesus Christ in heaven that it was time for a South American pope.
snip
"They're fast-tracking the mythification," Acosta-Alzuru said of the government. "Sometimes I feel that Venezuelan politics has become a big church. Sometimes I feel it has become a big mausoleum."
snip
Such rhetoric has upset some religious leaders and drawn the reproach of Venezuela's top Roman Catholic official, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, on the eve of the Easter holidays.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Too stupid to feed themselves and too ignorant to learn how.
Gee, Lenin’s in a box. Ho Chi Minh is a wax box puppet).
Kim Il Slong is probably in one (and his son should join him soon). Then we put Chavez in a Cracker Jack Box with that helfer leaning over his coffin.
That leaves Fidel, after he is deflea-ded, and our fearless leader.
We could cover them all up, shuffle them around a room, and play “Guess which communist is under THIS cover”.
It could be called “The Communist Shuffle Game”. And the winner is .....
PS: Francisco Franco is still dead.
Don't lump a great man, who saved Spain from Communism, like Franco in with those Commie dictators.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.