Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Judge Delays US Burial of Former Venezuelan President Perez

   VOA News 29 December 2010

Photo: AP

   The  body  of the former Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez lies
   in a casket at a funeral home in Miami, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010

   A  judge  in  Miami,  Florida  has  delayed the burial there of former
   Venezuelan  President  Carlos Andres Perez amid a family feud over his
   final resting place.
   The  late president was to have been laid to rest Wednesday, but Judge
   Gerald  Hubbart  ruled for the delay Tuesday after some of Mr. Perez's
   relatives  sought legal action to stop the burial.  The ruling bars a
   funeral  home from any action to bury or otherwise dispose of the body
   until the matter is settled.
   The former president died Saturday, Christmas Day, in a Miami hospital
   of a heart attack.  He was 88 years old.
   Mr.  Perez's  first wife, Blanca Perez, wants him buried in Venezuela,
   where one of his daughters, Thais, died 15 years ago.
   But  a  former  secretary  who  has  frequently been identified as Mr.
   Perez's  wife,  Cecelia Matos, and their two daughters, want him to be
   buried in south Florida.  Matos and her daughters have been living in
   Florida  and say they will not return Mr. Perez's remains to Venezuela
   until  current  President  Hugo  Chavez  leaves  office.   Mr.  Perez
   survived a 1992 coup attempt led by Mr. Chavez, who at the time was an
   army lieutenant colonel.
   In later years, Mr. Perez became a strong critic of Mr. Chavez.
   Mr.  Perez  was  elected  president  of Venezuela in 1974 after a long
   career in politics.  Among his first major acts was nationalizing the
   nation's oil industry at a time when global prices were soaring.
   Mr.  Perez lost re-election in 1978, but returned to the presidency in
   1989.
   Although  he survived two coup attempts, including the one led by Hugo
   Chavez,  Mr. Perez was later brought down when the Venezuelan Congress
   impeached him on corruption charges.
   Judge Delays US Burial of Former Venezuelan President Perez

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

.