"He arranged it all for us, and now it is up to us whether we will carry it out or not," he said.

There was no burial after the funeral, because of an unexpected twist that Maduro announced Thursday.

Chavez will be embalmed "just like Lenin (and) Mao Zedong" and laid to rest at a military museum where generations of Venezuelans can visit.

It is a reminder that Chavez's image will not soon fade.

"The body of our leader will be embalmed, and it will ... be surrounded by crystal glass forever, present forever, and always with his people," he said on state-run TV.

Chavez died after a long battle with cancer. Thousands of his supporters lined the streets Wednesday in a procession from the military hospital where he died to a military academy where Venezuelans could view him.

As president, Chavez cultivated an image as a protector of the country's marginalized, and his followers worshiped him with fervor. The turnout at the military academy to view Chavez was so great that the viewing was extended for another seven days.

Chavez first announced his cancer diagnosis in June 2011, but the government never revealed details about his prognosis or specified what kind of cancer he had.