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The BBC's Daniel Schweimler says the funeral will be a national and international affair
Thousands have converged on Argentina's government palace to pay their respects to ex-President Nestor Kirchner, who died on Wednesday at 60.
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In pictures: Argentines mourn Nestor Kirchner
Death leaves a void
In quotes: Tributes to Nestor Kirchner
His body is lying in state to allow people to file past in honour of the man who was president from 2003 to 2007.
Overnight, crowds took to the streets of Buenos Aires to voice their grief.
Mr Kirchner, succeeded by his wife Cristina Fernandez as president, was expected to run in the 2011 election.
President Fernandez has so far not spoken publicly about her husband's death.
Mr Kirchner's body was flown back to the capital, Buenos Aires, early on Thursday from the southern town of Calafete, where he died in hospital with his wife by his side.
Return to stability
Mr Kirchner had suffered health problems and had a heart operation last month but nevertheless his death shocked many in Argentina, where three days of national mourning were declared.
Tens of thousands of his supporters gathered in front of the government palace, the Casa Rosada or Pink House, waving Argentina's blue and white flag, lighting candles and leaving flowers.
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Media reaction
"We're Argentines, soldiers of the penguin," they chanted, an allusion to the creature identified with Mr Kirchner on account of his origins in Patagonia, in southern Argentina.
"We must show solidarity in the coming days so that the opposition doesn't take advantage of this moment," one of the demonstrators, Roberto Picozze, told Reuters.
Mr Kirchner came to power as Argentina was emerging from a profound political and economic crisis, and he oversaw the country's return to relative stability and prosperity.
He also supported the prosecution of those responsible for human rights abuses under military rule in the 1970s and 1980s.
Mr Kirchner was a polarising figure, says the BBC's Daniel Schweimler in Buenos Aires. He was very popular among the trade unions and in the industrial belt around Buenos Aires, deeply unpopular among the wealthy, especially so among the influential agricultural lobby which did not like him nor his wife.
His death leaves a huge void in Argentine politics, which both his supporters and opponents will now have to face, our correspondent adds.
Regional leaders
The couple had faced some criticism for appearing to get around the constitutional limit on two consecutive terms.
Just as Mr Kirchner stood aside for his wife in 2007, it was widely thought President Fernandez would step back and allow him to run in the October 2011 election.
The presidents of Bolivia and Ecuador, Evo Morales and Rafael Correa, were the first regional leaders to arrive in Buenos Aires on Thursday morning.
The Uruguayan president, Jose Mujica, also travelled to Argentina to attend the funeral ceremonies.
Several other Latin American leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chile's President Sebastian Pinera are expected to arrive later on Thursday.
Exact details have yet to be announced but local media reported that Mr Kirchner was expected to be buried in the southern city of Rio Gallegos, where he spent much of his political career.
All of the country's football matches this weekend have been called off following his death.
All matches from the first division to lower semi-professional leagues were suspended, a spokesman for the Argentine Football Association said.
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A look back at the political career of Nestor Kirchner
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Subject: Argentines mourn former President Nestor Kirchner 
Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:20 am
