BUENOS AIRES – Football superstar Diego Maradona was buried Thursday in a personal rite attended by only two dozen people, a stark contrast to the previous day when tens of thousands of watery enthusiasts marched past his coffin for hours at a birthday party that combined the head-to-state honors with the chaos of a noisy stadium.
In the cemetery of Jardon Bella Vista only the circle of close family and friends was allowed for the last devout rite and burial of Maradona next to the tombs of his parents, Dalma and Diego.
Fans waving Argentine flags piled up along the roads as Maradona’s hearse passed under heavy security, with many attempting to touch the vehicle every time it stopped in traffic.
The pre-projection of the Argentine presidential mansion was interrupted a while before 6pm, 12 hours after its start, when Maradona’s family circle was sought and the Argentine icon’s frame removed to be buried, frustrating many waiting to pay homage. and causing new tensions at the cemetery gates.
Fans, some covered with the national flag, sang football anthems as they formed a line stretching more than 20 blocks from Plaza de Mayo, where Argentines piled up to celebrate Maradona’s triumph at the 1986 World Cup.
But in time to see the coffin of the presidential palace drawn, the police, cutting off the crowd’s back, infuriated the enthusiasts who threw stones and other objects at the officers, who responded with rubber bullets.
The crowd hit the organizers and the violence resulted in injuries and arrests, which led Maradona’s family circle to end the public visit. The coffin placed in a car carrying the former football player’s call in a cardboard box near the window.
Desperate to say goodbye, Maradona enthusiasts climbed the fences of the presidential mansion as if they were in a football stadium, while firefighters worked to leave the field blank.
“Diego is not dead, Diego lives in the other people,” other people chanted as the coffin taken to an outdoor cemetery in Buenos Aires. The procession, accompanied by police, followed a local road through dozens of cars and motorbikes honking the horn. Horns.
Hundreds of enthusiasts blocked the front of the cemetery before Maradona’s coffin arrived, dancing and singing as police entered a transparent lane. The crowd continued to make noise after the start of the final ceremony.
Maradona died wednesday of an attack on the center in an outdoor space in Buenos Aires where he recovered from brain surgery on November 3.
While the view had the characteristics of a state funeral, with Maradona’s coffin arranged in the presidential palace, the atmosphere was that of a football stadium: singing, singing, pushing and the occasional smell of alcohol.
Fans cried and kissed as they walked past the coffin, some banged their chests with their fists clenched and shouted, “Come on, Diego. “
He wore the Argentine flag and shirts with his outstanding number 10 of the national team and the Boca Juniors club, with other shirts thrown around him by passing admirers.
The free stopover began at 6:15 a. m. after a few hours of privacy for the circle of close family and friends, the first to say goodbye were his daughters and close members of the family circle, his ex-wife, Claudia Villafae, arrived. with the daughters of Maradona, Dalma and Gianinna. Veranica Ojeda later arrived, also exmujer, with her son Dieguito Fernando.
Also present is Jana Maradona, whom the player identified as his daughter only a few years ago.
Then came former teammates from the 1986 World Cup-winning team, Oscar Ruggeri, and other Argentine footballers, such as Carlos Tévez de Boca Juniors, also performed.
Early in the morning, some enthusiasts became impatient when police tried to maintain order and began throwing bottles and pieces of steel fences at officials outside the presidential offices in central Buenos Aires. At one point, police used tear fuel to control them.
Interior Minister Wado de Pedro said he surprised by what he called the “madness” of police movements opposed to sympathizers. “This popular tribute cannot end with the repression and flight of those who came to say goodbye to Maradona,” he said.
President Alberto Fernández gave the impression at noon and placed in the coffin a shirt of the Argentinos Juniors team, where Maradona began his career in 1976.
In tears, Fernández also placed two headscarves of the human rights organization Madre de la Plaza de Mayo, which used them for years to protest the disappearance of his young people under the dictatorship of the Argentine army between 1976 and 1983. of The Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara tattooed on a biceps, a friend of the Mothers and other rights groups.
The rows began to take form outdoors of Casa Rosada a few hours after maradona’s death confirmation and reached several blocks.
A huge fresco depicting Maradona’s face painted on the tiles covering the Plaza de Mayo, near Casa Rosada, which is decorated with a giant black ribbon at the entrance.
The first amateur to make a stopover was Nahuel de Lima, 30, with crutches to move around for a disability.
“It has made Argentina identify around the world, which speaks of Maradona also talks about Argentina,” he told The Associated Press from Lima. “Diego is the people . . . Today, T-shirts and political flags don’t matter. We got here”. to say goodbye to a wonderful one who gave us a lot of joy.
Maradona’s football genius, non-public struggles and transparent non-advertising resonated deeply with Argentines.
He led a team oppressed to the glory of the 1986 World Cup, winning the name after scoring two amazing goals in the semi-final against England, thrilling a country that felt humiliated by its defeat to the British in the recent Falklands War and still recovering from the brutal dictatorship of the army.
The insults from the football stands choreographed among the funeral crowd echoed this nationalist pride: “He who does not jump is English”, “Brazilian, Brazilian, you are so bitter, Maradona is bigger than Pelé”.
Many Argentines were deeply sympathetic to the struggles of a guy who went from poverty to fame and wealth and fell into drug, beverage and food abuse. He has remained idolized in the crazy country as “Golden Pibe” or “Golden Boy”.
Many enthusiasts proudly displayed Maradona’s tattoos; others, aware of Maradona’s tense relationship with the press, insulted journalists.
Lidia and Estela Villalba cried near the exit of the aisle, both with a Boca Juniors T-shirt and an Argentine flag on their shoulders.
“We told him we enjoyed it, which is the biggest,” they said at the same time.
Many of those who covered up to enter Casa Rosada wore masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but struggled to maintain their social distance.
Social Rosa Noem-Monje, 63, said she and other fitness protocol officials understood the excitement of the moment.
“It is to ask them to leave. We behave with respect and we are offering them disinfectant and masks,” he says. Monje also paid his last respects to Maradona.
“I said, “To victory always, Diego, ” cried Monk.
——— Associated Press Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo, Brazil, contributed to the report.
Policy 24/7 of the latest news and events.