AP

Venezuela has decided not to embalm the body of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez for permanent display after all.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said the government's plan was scrapped on the advice of Russian experts.

"The Russian medical commission established that in order to do the procedure, the body would have to be transported to Russia and remain there for seven to eight months," Villegas said Friday, according to CNN.

Venezuelan officials had initially said Chavez's body would be preserved "for all eternity." Acting President Nicolas Maduro acknowledged Wednesday that scientists had determined the process would be "quite difficult" and that doing so was "highly unlikely."

Chavez died March 5 after battling cancer.

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