A Year After His Death, Proof Hugo Chavez Is A God (According To Maduro)

Hugo Chavez Loses Battle With Cancer

The controversial and gregarious Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez Frías died after a long battle with cancer.

Hugo Chávez was known for his bigger-than-life persona and his over-the-top speeches (who can forget when he called then-President George W. Bush "the devil" during a UN speech?) He was defiant and theatrical, traits that endeared him to some but made him despised by many.

His successor, however, has made headlines for his unusual, almost comical antics – from claiming a dead Chávez appeared to him in bird form to speak to insisting the late leader’s body should be enshrined in a public building. He also has seen Chávez at construction sites. Don't be surprised if that ant crawling across your leg turns out to be Chávez.

And just when you think things have gotten bizarre enough, his comments just get weirder and weirder – bordering on the creepy.

Here are some of Maduro's utterings that have amused the world and made some members of the mental health community start to worry about him.

1. Hugo Chávez will be embalmed.

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While he was Acting Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, said on Venezuela National TV that Hugo Chávez's body will be embalmed and be permanently placed in a glass case at the country's military history museum for public viewing.

2. Pope Francis was elected because Chávez talked to Jesus Christ

Maduro claimed Chávez played an important role in the election of Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the first Latin American Pope.

3. Maduro said a 'little bird' told him he'll become president

Maduro said at Chavez's childhood home that he felt his deceased mentor appeared to him in the form of a "little bird" and blessed him.

4. Chávez reappears to Maduro in bird form

The bird, which purportedly also visited Maduro in April while he was on the campaign trail, told the Venezuelan president that it was happy with the way Maduro was running the country.

5. Maduro compares Chávez to Jesus Christ

Maduro compared Chávez to Christ and said that the late president, just like Jesus Christ, "came to protect those who had nothing," in a tribute to the fallen leader on the five-month anniversary of his death.

6. Maduro says he sleeps in Chávez's mausoleum

Widely known for his devotion to Chávez, Maduro revealed that he sometimes sleeps in the mausoleum where his mentor's remains are kept.

7. Maduro says construction workers see apparition of late leader Chávez

Maduro said an image of his political idol and predecessor had appeared miraculously in the wall of an underground construction site.