WEDDING UNLEASHES CRITICS
Upon announcing their wedding, Antonio de la Rúa unleashed an explosion
of gossip, causing a commotion in not Argentine politics, but in
neighboring countries, who accused the presidential family of extravagance
and frivolity.
Antonio de la Rúa is furious and happy at the same time. Happy because
of his engagement with Shakira, but furious because of the
international scandal unleashed by the Brazilian magazine "Veja," that accused him
and his whole family of of frivolity and extravagances just because the
son of the Argentine presidency announced that he will marry the
Colombian singer (they say that it could be in August of 2002.) De la Rúa's
family demonstrated their anger through several letters and broadcasts
to clean their good name.
To top it off, is the subject of a 2.8 million dollar apartment. Many
reporters assure that he and his fiancee had bought it, a hypothesis
that he denied with legal actions, and arguing, "Nothing more false than
that," throwing to the ground the versions that they already gave about
how he was an owner of a luxurious 1,200 square meter penthouse,
located in the coqueta zone that surrounds the English embassy in Buenos
Aires.
Darío Lopérfido, Secretary of Culture of Argentina and Antonio de la
Rúa's best friend, was the one who stuck his neck out to smooth things
over with those on the offensive and Antonito's formal announcement on a
local radio station: "I'm getting married to Shakira," said the boy,
and he got ready for a tremendous uproar, since the people thought that
it was immediate.
He prepared himself not because the country cared about the
skirt-chasing affairs of the president's son, but because Argentina lives in
dramatic times. There is social breakdown, strikes, violence in the streets,
unemployment, and uncertainty. And frivolous announcements that bring
up the irrevelant idea of pompous parties replete with the rich and
famous, agitates the town's nerves and impels critics in the local and
foreign political press. Such is the case with the report published in
"Veja."
"Not even one paragraph of what that newspaper says is true, and even
less so about the apartment," said Antonio, who, in spite of the fact
that he's sure that he wants to get married, at such chaos, he
backtracked.
"For now there is no wedding," retorted Darío Lopérfido, who together
with the president De La Rúa wants to keep Antonio far away from the
public spotlight. But the photos of Antonio and Shakira hugging and
holding hands in every corner of the world, swept the magazines and ruined
those plans of austerity that the family wanted to give as their public
image. Antonio, perhaps regretting such a display, already has offices
loaded in Miami, and he confessed: "I don't work with my father anymore,
I only look after being his support when I'm in Buenos Aires, as every
son should do." According to rumors, Toñito already helps Shakira in
managing her career.
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