Flowers bouquets, personalized messages and posters adorned the Casa Rosada presidential palace , after Argentina went into mourning for Nestor Kirchner.

The politician reviled in life became the statesman in death, with his debt history buried with him. Thousands gathered in swelling numbers at Buenos Aires, to pay their last respects to the former president, who died all of a sudden on Wednesday ,of a heart attack.

Nestor Kirchner’s body will lie in state at the palace, for the people to get a last view of him. Those grieving started gathering at the capital in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Kirchner succumbed to the heart attack while in the city of El Calafate. Kirchner’s wife Cristina Fernandez Kirchner, whom Nestor Kirchner had instated as Prez, too returned to Buenos Aires.

Argentina will remain in mourning, with an official declaration of 3 days being made. Condolences poured in from world leaders, with U.S. President Barack Obama expressing his regard for Kirchner and the Argentine people. He hailed the significant role the departed had played in Argentina ’s political life and said that he offered his prayers at one with the Kirchner’s friends family. The 60 year old took part in the Congress, after formally retiring and handing the baton to his wife.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, and Pope Benedict XVI too expressed their condolences. Kirchner shall be laid to rest in Rio Gallegos, his hometown, later this week.

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