Hugo Chavez Funeral: Human Rights Abusers Are Well Represented

Impact

Hugo Chavez had a long history of supporting dictators, terrorists, and abusers of human rights. Several of these allies have arrived in Venezuela to pay homage to the socialist strongman at his funeral. The pomp they add to this circumstance only serves to help Chavez's supporters expand the cult surrounding the former president.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was on hand to serve in Chavez's honor guard. Cuban President Raul Castro arrived to represent the communist country. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Europe's last remaining dictator, went on television to mourn his "brother" before flying off to Venezuela.

Like those other paragons of human rights, Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, Hugo Chavez's corpse will be put on public display. This is all part of successor Nicolas Maduro's attempt to cement the cult of Hugo Chavez and thus his own power as elections approach - a common ploy performed by many of the world's most corrupt and dangerous regimes throughout history.

Hugo Chavez was a supporter of the world's dictators, and they have gone to Venezuela to mourn his death. They have lost a true friend and ally in Chavez, and will play their part to support Nicolas Maduro's rise to power. The cult of Chavez will live on and pose a danger to the global human rights movement unless Henrique Capriles and the opposition can successfully oust Maduro and his allies from power.