Since Wednesday night, a crowd of fans have been waiting in Plaza de Mayo for the opening of the wake to bid farewell to Argentine star Diego Armando Maradona.
The Government works with the hypothesis that a million people come to say goodbye to the idol, so it involved the Ministries of Security, Defense and Health, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, and created a security perimeter by closing the streets around the Casa Rosada.
Despite the emotion, more than a climate of mourning, the songs, the flags and the shirts seem like the entrance to a football stadium to see a great game of the “god” of the ball.
Although there were some riots at the opening of the wake that forced the Casa Rosada headquarters to close for a few minutes, a couple of hours later the entrance proceeds normally.
Inside the Casa Rosada, crowned with a mourning ribbon, the fences are covered with the Argentine flag.
People circulate at a good pace and can look at the coffin on a fence, from where T-shirts, flags, hats are thrown around the coffin. They also throw kisses, applaud, cry, thank…
The closed coffin where Maradona lies is covered by an Argentine flag and a shirt of the Boca Juniors Club and the Argentine National Team.
Some sources indicate that, given the number of citizens who have come to the funeral chapel, it is likely that not everyone will be able to enter, so video screens have been installed so that the coffin can be seen from the outside.
The family attended their intimate farewell at dawn with their relatives, friends, former soccer players and some authorities at the Casa Rosada.
Once open to the public, Claudia Villafañe, the player’s ex-wife, her children Dalma, Giannina, Diego Fernando and Jana remained.
Local media indicated that his former partner Verónica Ojeda left at 4 in the morning. Meanwhile, his ex-girlfriend Rocío Oliva declared that they had not let her in.
The soccer star died on Wednesday at the age of 60 at his residence in Tigre and his remains were transferred overnight from his home to the government headquarters in downtown Buenos Aires. EFE. (JL).