Where Do You Bury Hugo Chavez?

Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, has returned from a lengthy medical stay in Cuba. It seems doctors removed a puss infection from his colon and cancerous parts of his colon. There have been few details as to what stage of colon cancer he has and will the cancer be fatal. Hugo Chavez will either have a short time to live or he will fight colon cancer for months or years.

The immediate question is how should Hugo Chavez be honored after his death?

Since the collapse of Soviet Union communism, many political leaders have been required to wear political masks. With the death of Hugh Chavez his mask can come off. History will regard him as the political leader who introduced communism into Venezuela. In a post-Soviet Union communism, how should the existing communist world honor companero Chavez? Chavez is highly regarded in the communist world nationally, regionally, and international. The Soviet example is to have Lenin’s Tomb in Red Square, Moscow, with Lenin embalmed so annually thousands of visitors can view Lenin’s body. Stalin had been placed in Lenin’s Tomb, but after the fall of the USSR, Stalin was removed, so there will be room for Chavez. For Soviet citizens a visit to Lenin’s Tomb was a moving experience- a personal view of the founder of Soviet communism.

The dilemma is should comrade Chavez be honored with a tomb with his embalmed body in Caracas, or La Habana, or even in Moscow? True international communists would demand his body be allowed to share a place in Moscow next to Lenin. Regional communists would demand the body be in the future companero Castro tomb in La Habana. Nationalist communists would demand he be placed in a large tomb in Caracas.