Venezuela bids farewell to Chavez

The body of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lay in state in a half-open casket Wednesday at a military academy in Caracas, after throngs of weeping supporters lined the streets to bid farewell.

The flag-draped coffin of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez was borne through throngs of weeping supporters on Wednesday as a nation bade farewell to the firebrand leftist who led them for 14 years.

His mother Elena wept over his wooden casket as a band played the national anthem outside his military hospital. Presidential guards with red berets then placed his remains on a black hearse which took him to lie in state.

The commander's hand-picked successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, walked alongside the car, wearing a somber expression and the colors of the national flag, in what was in effect the first appearance in his election campaign.

He was accompanied the length of a more than six-hour route under baking sun by Bolivia's President Evo Morales, cheered by huge crowds.

His body, surrounded by soldiers, was taken to the military academy that the former paratrooper colonel once called a second home, where he was to lie in state until an official ceremony with foreign dignitaries on Friday.

People watched from their apartment windows while others climbed fences to get a better view of the hearse. Many held or wore iconic images of Chavez.

Hundreds of people spent the night in front of his hospital, waving Venezuelan flags and chanting "we are all Chavez!" A banner was hung on the hospital fence, reading "Chavez lives, the battle continues!"