Private burial for imprisoned ally of Hugo Chavez

Once powerful Defense Minister of Hugo Chávez, Raúl Baduel, was buried in a private ceremony attended by close family and friends only on Wednesday afternoon.

Victim of COVID-19, Baduel died at 66 on Tuesday in a military prison, awaiting trial for his alleged links to a plot to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Since his initial detention in 2009, and subsequent prosecution, Baduel was considered a political prisoner, just after breaking with Chavez and becoming one of his fiercest critics.

The retired general-in-chief had been in a cell of the political police since 2017, when a house arrest was revoked.

The former military chief led the military movement that allowed the return of Chávez to the government 47 hours after a failed coup in April 2002.

After being considered one of Chávez's most loyal associates, Baduel broke with the now-deceased president due to differences over a constitutional reform that allowed indefinite reelection and the creation of a socialist state in 2007.

IMAGE: AP