Hugo Chavez’s body is lying in state at the Fuerte Tiuna Military Academy in Caracas, where Mr Chavez studied as a young cadet.
Report by BBC Online
The coffin, covered in a Venezuelan flag, was placed in a hall dedicated to the “liberators of South America”.
Thousands of people lined up quietly to say one last goodbye to Mr Chavez, among them government officials and Latin American leaders such as Bolivian President Evo Morales and Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
The coffin was taken by hearse through the streets of Caracas from the military hospital where Mr Chavez died on Tuesday. The televised procession took over seven hours, and thousands of people accompanied Mr Chavez’s family and government officials for kilometres.
Upon reaching the military academy, a Mass was held with the participation of Mr Chavez’s mother and daughters, who were received with a long applause.
