CARACAS, March 9 (Itar-Tass) – After the state mourning ceremony with late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that the high-level delegations from 55 countries attended, the access of the Venezuelans to the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution lying in state was resumed on Friday. Hugo Chavez died after a heavy long illness at the age of 58 years.

People, who are passing by the coffin in an endless flow, can get an opportunity to see the demised national leader for 2-3 minutes. At the Hall of Glory at the Venezuelan Military Academy it is banned to take pictures, meanwhile, the mourners are asked to switch off their mobile phones. The mahogany coffin is covered with the three-coloured national flag with eight white stars. A large gold-plated cross is placed nearby, the candles are burning in high candleholders. The Guard of Honour is lined in perimeter from servicemen with the sabres, who are dressed in the red uniform of the hussars of the times of the liberation war in Venezuela against the Spanish colonial yoke. The gold sabre of Venezuelan national hero Simon Bolivar is placed at the coffin.

The guards dressed in official black suits ask the mourners not to stay at the coffin for a long time. They have to do it, because a long queue from people wishing to pay last respects to the Comandante lined up at the Military Academy. Many people, who are standing in the endless queue, are dressed in red shirts, blouses and t-shirts. Red is the colour of the Bolivarian Revolution, which late President Hugo Chavez dedicated his life to.

People passing by the coffin do not conceal their tears, many women are crying out loud. Some mourners in the impulse of grief are approaching the coffin and begin to kiss the glass cover of the coffin. After that the attendants suspend the mourning procession and wipe the glass cover with white cloths for the ideal clearness.

Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolas Maduro stated earlier that Chavez’s body will be embalmed. “It was decided to embalm the body of the president to preserve it forever, and people will be able to watch him at the Revolution Museum under the glass dome,” he said. “Chavez will be embalmed like Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong,” he noted.

The ceremony to pay the last respects to the Venezuelan national leader is extended by at least seven days, because the number of those wishing to bid last farewells the Comandante reaches millions of people, Maduro noted. After that the president’s body will be brought to the Mountain barracks, from where on February 4, 1992, Hugo Chavez commanded a military coup attempt that launched the Bolivarian Revolution. The building then housed the Military History Museum, which Chavez wanted to turn into the Revolution Museum, according to his will.