The late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez remains present in Venezuela through the many pictures and homages to him, but a recent member of the country's Socialist Party took it a step further. Socialist delegate Maria Estrella Uribe rolled out a variation of the "Lord's Prayer" - to Chavez.
"Our Chavez who art in heaven, the earth, the sea and we delegates," said Uribe at the PSUV party Congress, " she said in front of his image."Lead us not into the temptation of capitalism, deliver us from the evil of the oligarchy, like the crime of contraband, because ours is the homeland, the peace and life forever and ever. Amen. Viva Chavez!" she exclaimed to applause.
Chavez, who died of cancer in March 2013, came from a poor background, and won over many poor Venezuelans with his large social programs and criticism of the country's elite. Opponents blast what they see as a personality cult to the late leader and accuse current President Nicolas Maduro of using this to distract from shortages of goods, high inflation and crime.
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--Reuters