MIAMI — Months before former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez died, he insisted he would never be buried in his homeland as long as nemesis Hugo Chavez remained in power, a professor testified Tuesday at a hearing on whether Venezuela or the U.S. should be his final resting place.
Agustin Blanco Munoz of Central University of Venezuela in Caracas said the subject came up in June 2010 during an interview.
Blanco Munoz said he asked the aging leader — who died Dec. 25 at age 88 — if he would consider being interred in Venezuela.
“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.”
