Hugo Chávez Dead: Why It May Be 'Too Late' to Preserve Venezuelan President's Body

Hugo Chávez, the late president of Venezuela died March 5 after battling cancer. Following his death, supporters of Chávez called for his body to be embalmed and preserved on display for eternity. However, after a lengthy public mourning, experts say Hugo Chávez' body is not in a fresh enough state to be preserved.

The Los Angeles Times reported that interim President Nicolás Maduro announced his dismay at a book fair.

"The decision should have been made much earlier," he said, calling the idea a "product of love."

Hugo Chávez's supporters announced they wanted his body embalmed and displayed within 48 hours of his passing. Until European body-preservation experts told Maduro it would be extremely difficult to preserve the late leader's body at this juncture, the citizens were sure their dream would be realized.

"We want to tell our people in a responsible way," Maduro said.

The German and Russian experts told Maduro the embalmment must have taken place within hours of his death unless he was already in a state of refrigeration.

While Hugo Chávez's body may not be able to be preserved and publicly exhibited forever, a number of other world leaders, many of them left-leaning like Chávez, have been successfully preserved.

North Vietnamese communist leader Ho Chi Minh lies in state at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Ba Dinh Square in Hanoi. Ho, the President of Vietnam from 1945 throughout the Vietnam War until his death, died in 1969. Russian leader Vladimir Lenin's body is also preserved in this way.