Miami, Florida - Months before former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez died, he insisted he would never be buried in his homeland as long as political nemesis Hugo Chavez remained in power, a professor testified on Tuesday at a hearing on whether Venezuela or the US should be his final resting place.
Agustin Blanco Munoz, a political and economic sciences professor at Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, said the subject came up in June 2010 during one of his many interviews with Perez. They were discussing the decision by Perez and his longtime mistress, Cecilia Matos, to buy two burial plots in Miami.
Blanco Munoz said he asked the aging leader - who died on December 25 at 88 - if he would consider being interred in Venezuela with Chavez running its current socialist-leaning government. Perez was president from 1974-79 and 1989-93.
“He answered: ‘When there will be democracy. When there will be democracy. When there will be democracy,’ “ Blanco Munoz testified in Spanish through an interpreter. “It was a very clear expression. A very firm expression.”
Matos, with whom Perez has two daughters, is trying to show circuit judge Arthur Rothenberg that Perez was adamant about not returning while Chavez is president even though he left no written burial instructions.
Attorneys for Perez's estranged wife, Blanca Rodriguez de Perez, contend that under Florida law she has the absolute right as surviving spouse to make burial decisions. They had six children together.
After two days of testimony in the family feud, attorneys for both sides agreed on Tuesday to halt the hearing to allow more time to gather evidence and find witnesses. Rothenberg set a March 21 trial date and ordered that Perez's remains be kept at a Miami funeral home in the meantime.
While the hearing was going on in Miami, Chavez commented on the controversy in a televised speech in Venezuela, rejecting claims from the Matos camp that he had blocked Perez's attempts to get a divorce.
“Listen, that's the height of madness,” Chavez said. “I hope they can bring him here as his oldest daughters wish. What's happening is that, well, there's another family there that doesn't agree. That's sad, isn't it?”
Rothenberg said on Tuesday he would strongly consider whether there was enough evidence of Perez's intentions to overcome Rodriguez de Perez's rights. The judge has also suggested moving Perez's remains from a funeral home refrigeration unit to a temporary aboveground crypt while the issues are sorted out, but Rodriguez de Perez's lawyers have rejected that.
Blanco Munoz said he met with Perez at least 50 times beginning in 1979, culminating in his book of interviews published in 2010. He said Perez and Chavez have been bitter enemies for decades, including an unsuccessful 1992 coup attempt against Perez led by then-Lieutenant-Colonel Chavez.
In fact, Blanco Munoz said, it was likely that the Chavez government was orchestrating the attempt to return Perez's body to Venezuela so a “bury the political past” event could be staged.
“I believe the government is behind all of this,” Blanco Munoz said.
Chavez has previously rejected any claims that his government is involved in the controversy over Perez's remains. Rodriguez de Perez's family issued a statement last week saying they don't expect such a high-profile event.
“We have never envisaged having a state funeral for our father,” the statement said. “Clearly, it makes sense for a Venezuelan leader of his stature to have a final resting place among his people.”
Rothenberg said he expected the hearings to continue until Thursday, after which he would rule on several motions from both sides. But the judge said it could be April before a final decision was made on where Perez would be buried. - Sapa-AP