Chávez's body to be displayed "for ever" The body of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's late president who died on Tuesday, will be embalmed so that it can be seen "for eternity," said Nicolás Maduro, acting president. The socialist leader, who died aged 58 after a two-year battle with cancer, will be put on display in a glass case "just like Ho Chi Minh, Lenin and Mao Zedong ... so that the people can have him present for ever," Mr Maduro said. The government appeared to have made a snap decision after Ernesto Villegas, information minister, said earlier in the day that more than 2m people had come from all over the country to see Mr Chávez's coffin, and that it would be "statistically, mathematically impossible" for all Venezuelans to see his body. According to local media, a queue more than 7km long had formed early on Thursday morning outside the military academy in Caracas, where Mr Chávez's body was put on display in an open coffin. It had been carried on Wednesday in a procession that lasted more than seven hours from the military hospital where he died. Venezuelans were given just a few seconds to glance at Mr Chávez's body, dressed in army uniform and signature red beret, as it lay in a simple wooden coffin with a glass top. It was draped with flowers and a Venezuelan flag. A state funeral is due to take place on Friday, with more than 30 presidents expected to attend. Brazil's Dilma Rousseff arrived in Caracas on Thursday. Mr Maduro said other regional leaders, including Cuba's Raúl Castro, were also due to arrive. He said the Prince of Asturias would represent Spain, while Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad and Belarus" Alexander Lukashenko were also expected. High-level delegations from China and Russia would also attend, he added. Mr Chávez's open coffin will remain in the military academy for Venezuelans to see for at least seven more days. After that it will be transferred for seven more days to Caracas" museum of the revolution. It was here that the former tank commander first became known to the nation when he was forced to admit defeat after a failed coup in 1992. Many "chávistas" hope their "comandante" will share his final resting place with Venezuela's 19th century hero, Simón Bolívar, who served as the inspiration for Mr Chávez's "Bolivarian revolution." Freddy Bernal, a former mayor of Caracas and Diosdado Cabello, president of the national assembly, have both openly supported popular demands that Mr Chávez's body should lie alongside Bolívar's.