Miami: The body of former Venezuelan president, Carlos Andres Perez, is finally going home, more than nine months after he died living in exile in Miami.
Family members and attorneys say Perez's remains will begin their journey on Monday to Venezuela. The former president's body has been in a mortuary and a temporary mausoleum during a bitter family feud that finally settled in August.
Perez was Venezuela's president from 1974-79 and 1989-93. He died in Miami in December at age 88.
The feud concerned where Perez would ultimately be buried. Perez's estranged wife in Venezuela, Blanca Rodriguez de Perez, insisted she had rights as surviving spouse to bring his body home.
Perez's longtime companion Cecilia Matos said Perez had repeatedly vowed never to return as long as arch-nemesis Hugo Chavez was president.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, October 03, 2011, 14:13