Crowd bids farewell to Nestor Kirchner (Feature)

By Cecilia Caminos Oct 28, 2010, 23:07 GMT

Buenos Aires - Tens of thousands felt drawn to pay their last respects to former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner Thursday in an emotional farewell a day after he died of a massive heart attack in southern Argentina.

The crowd outside the government palace was mostly silent, although applause, sobs and political songs sometimes changed the atmosphere. Anonymous individuals mixed with Peronist organizations and trade unions on Plaza de Mayo, a symbolic central square before the government palace.

'Kirchner made me believe in politicians,' said Jesica, 22, who travelled from the suburbs to central Buenos Aires with her young son in one hand and a carnation in the other.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner presided over the funeral of the husband who had preceded her in the Cas Rosada government palace from 2003-07.

'I was immensely sad about his death. He really helped us a lot,' a working-class woman told the German Press Agency dpa as she walked more than two kilometres in a queue in order to enter the palace.

'If this is not the people, where are the people?' the crowd sang, as many waved the flags of their trade unions or social organizations and signs, some of them handwritten, with political messages.

'Nestor is with Peron. The people are with Cristina,' a large banner said.

Juan Peron, who ruled Argentina 1946-55 and 1973 until his death in 1974, remains to this day the symbolic leader of Argentina's Peronist Party, which Kirchner led until his death, and its trade union movement.

Argentina's trade union leader, Hugo Moyano, said Wednesday that Kirchner came third in the hierarchy of historic leaders for the country's working class, behind only Peron (1895-74) and his second wife Eva Peron (1919-52).

'Thank you Nestor for having given back to us the joys and the dreams of a free and sovereign country,' read a more modest sign, on a piece of paper torn out of a notebook and stuck to the fence before the palace.

The fencing around the Casa Rosada has become an improvised altar with flags, flowers, letters, photos and banners. As people approached to pay their last respects they were absorbed into an introspective atmosphere, only liable to be broken when they saw President Fernandez de Kirchner devastated, stroking the casket with her husband's remains.

'Come on Cristina, long live Nestor!' one man shouted amid sobs before the casket.

The president, wearing large dark sunglasses, put her hand to her heart in gratefulness.

'Kirchner deserves everything, it was thanks to him that the country stood back up,' Jose, who described himself as a lifelong Peronist, whispered as he left.

Raul, a 60-year-old taxi driver, chose Thursday as the first time he ever took part in a political rally.

'I was wrong twice: I didn't vote for Kirchner in 2003 nor for Cristina in 2007, but I am here because she deserves it, because the first thing I thought of when I learnt that he had died is that the people have to support the president,' he said.

'Awesome, man!' a young man in a suit and tie told a friend as he contemplated the crowd by a side of the square, close to a giant screen that showed footage of the funeral inside the palace.

From the square, the crowd could follow the funeral and cheered for visitors like leftist presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador, before bursting into a round of applause as Argentine football legend Diego Maradona shrunk into a long hug with Fernandez de Kirchner.

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