Venezuela Will Deify Chavez Even as Crash Looms
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Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- In the nature and the suffering ofwhat may be his impending death, Hugo Chavez will probablyachieve the immortality in human memory that he has alwayssought, the certainty of a veneration reserved for saints,martyrs and redeemers.
The images now appearing in the streets of Venezuela leaveno doubt about it. They don’t compare Chavez to Simon Bolivar --the inspiration of the nation’s “comandante” -- but to JesusChrist. And there are explicit slogans displayed that go furtherand deeper into Venezuelan reality: “The people are Chavez”and “We are all Chavez” -- like some modern miracle oftransubstantiation.