How is it really any different saying someone is in heaven for sure as opposed to being in hell for sure?
Both are making a determination of someone’s eternal destiny, without anyway of knowing the facts of the matter.
Except that it sounds nicer to say people are in heaven than that people are in hell, and nobody wants to be the bad guy, so they make the determination that keeps everyone happy.
This is a little short-sighted.
My experience with reading Christian obits and respectfully attending the funerals of fellow Christians who were non-Catholic, has made me think that the non-Catholic communities practice "instant canonization": the obits refer to the deceased as having "gone to be with the Lord" and the eulogies and the hymnody, without exception, have asserted as fact that the departed brother or sister is rejoicing in his or her heavenly reward.
I would not be so obnoxious as to raise an objection on the spot.
Nevertheless, this stands in contrast with the way the Catholic Church sees it. I have never attended a Catholic funeral that lacked prayers of atonement for the sins of the deceased, intercessory prayer that God may pardon their offenses, and repeated "Lord Have Mercy"s.
As I assume you know, a person is not considered a canonized saint without two miracles, both after their death but by their intercession. These are very often healing miracles performed by God as a sign to the faithful.
I was privileged to meet Benedicta McCarthy of Boston, who was miraculously cured as a little toddler, after she had swallowed a bottle of Tylenol. Benedicta McCarthy's miracle (Link) The doctors said her liver output had dropped to zero and there was no way to save her. She recovered through the intercession of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein, 1891-1942), a Jewish-Catholic martyr of Auschwitz who was subsequently canonized a saint.
We don't trust in our own judgment on such a matter, which is by natural means beyond out knowing. We trust God, who graciously gives us these signs of his favor.
And though we may hope for God's meercy in the case of Chavez, I very mch doubt he will ever be canonized.
Trust me on that one.