An Escuálido March for Chávez

Two supporters of Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez, who just died, hold a banner celebrating him today in central Bogotá.

'Forward commander! We will live and triumph.'
Chavistas march past Bogotá's cathedral.
Their numbers may be few, but their spirit is strong. 

Colombian Chavistas marched down Ave. Septima today to pay homage to the Venezuelan president, who died this week. Chavez often called his opponents esquálidos, which means something like 'the pathetic ones,' or 'the scarce ones' or 'weak ones.' Sadly for Chávez, his march in Bogotá was pretty weak.

Chávez was buried today in Caracas.

The marchers called on people to attend a mass for Chavez to be held today in the Barrio Hugo Chavez, a poor neighborhood in northwest Bogotá which adopted the Venezuelan leader's name.

The man in the center of Plaza Bolivar facing his monument is Orlando, who carries on a lone campaign in favor of Cuba. 

'Chavez is not a man. He is a people which advances.' The slogan echoes the words of martyred Colombian politician Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, whose photo is also on the banner. 

The current edition of Voz, Bogotá's communist newspaper, headlines '¡Until forever, Commander Chavez.' But was Chávez a communist?

At a march yesterday by employees of ETB, Bogotá's public telephone company, carried a portrait of Hugo Chavez. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours