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 ...
I for one am truly pleased that the evil bastard is dead .. karma would dictate that it was reeeeally painful.
Low information voter, Venezuela style.
You mean all I have to do is steal billions from the poor and they’ll worship me ?
People are just f’ing stupid.
If the Nazis could have Juan Peron and Evita certainly the Commies can have that all wrapped up in a single package of ass-less wonderment.
So Chavez, Obama, and Kim Jong Un are the three collectivist saviours of the world?
That stupid bunny hop he does when hopping down the steps of AF1 is about as lame looking as it gets.
This article is just further evidence that the government controls the media in Venezuela. The phony stories about Chavez being religious are obediently repeated by the government controlled media.
Our nation’s Chief Executives keep getting more and more pathetic.
The future stinks.
I agree. Things really went down hill after Reagan. Clinton took it into the gutter.
“The future stinks.”
Depends on the time frame. I do believe that what is right will eventually endure, but history and justice do not occur on the same time scale as human life. We are lucky when our lives occur during good times. Historically, that’s not always the case.
Where's my Chavez Phone?
I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind having a reliquary box with Ugo’s skull in it.
Insanity. What else can you say?
A Bible in her arms, and a shrine to Chavez. One might think the people around her should be a little wary of lightning strikes.
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