By jtmanley
One major event sent shockwaves throughout Latin America and the rest of the world this week. On Tuesday, March 5, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez passed away after an arduous battle with cancer. As millions of people throughout the region reacted to the news, I knew that I witnessing a seminal moment in modern Latin American history. President Chávez, 58, had governed Venezuela since I was 6 years old. During his 14 years in office, he was lauded for his focus on poverty, social justice, and support for greater Latin American integration. A leftist, he helped create the political space for others throughout the region to come to power. One of those people is the incumbent Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
President Fernández de Kirchner took the death of President Chávez very seriously. Many commentators noted the closeness that Chávez had with her late husband and predecessor Néstor Kircher and the consolation he gave her when Néstor died in 2010. After she learned of her friend and colleague's passing on Tuesday night, she canceled her public schedule, declared three days of national mourning, and ordered all flags be flown at half-mast. She immediately took off for Caracas, making her the first of 55 heads of state and government to attend Chavez's state funeral.
On Wednesday, Cristina, along with Uruguayan President José Mujica, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and Uruguayan First Lady Senator Lucía Topolansky, formed the first presidential honor guard during Chavez's lying in state. Choosing not to attend the actual funeral set for Friday, President Fernández de Kirchner decided to leave Venezuela on Thursday night.
Along with the way the president handled these events, I was impressed by the extent of the public's reaction. The weekend before Chavez died, I walked past the Venezuelan Embassy in Buenos Aires along my way to meet with friends. I noticed the huge poster on the front window featuring the reconstructed 3-D face of Simón Bolívar that Chávez unveiled in a major ceremony last summer marking the anniversary of Bolívar's 229th birthday. Days later, it was the focal point for multitudes of youth activists and everyday Argentines to express their grief at the news of Chávez's death and to celebrate his life. A few blocks from my street, the political youth group La Cámpora painted a graffiti stating, "Néstor, Chávez, and the great nation live in the heart of the people," along the fence of a neighborhood church.
As a student of Latin American politics, I know that there was a lot of controversy regarding many of President Chávez's positions, policies, and statements. While there was a heavy amount of politics (on both ends of the spectrum) involved in the coverage of the late president's death and funeral, I'm not writing about this for political purposes, but because these events have placed Latin America (and to a lesser extent Argentina) in global headlines. Usually, the world and world leaders only stop to mourn the passing of American presidents and British royalty. This time, the world and world leaders from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East stopped to remember a Latin American leader. It's something that might not happen for a long time.