Chronicle of a Death Postponed

Chapter 1, “Chronicle of a Death Postponed,” argues that the official and popular narratives that circulated after Hugo Chávez’s cancer diagnosis created an atmosphere of uncertainty that allowed his death to be “postponed.” The first part analyzes the transformation of Chávez’s illness into a collective experience through conspiracy theories, public performances, and manipulated photographs that blurred the boundaries between reality and fiction and hid the progressive deterioration of his body. The second part analyzes the overlap of memorialization and resuscitation staged through the objects displayed in the Cuartel de la Montaña and in the chapel Santo Hugo Chávez del 23. The chapter concludes that, throughout his illness and after his death, Chávez’s material body was repeatedly removed from sight, and a magical and collectively shared body took its place. This body allowed him to transcend the finality of his own death and linger as a specter in the nation’s landscape.