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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Will Chavez wear Speedo at Carnival? |
| 2006-02-12 |
| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Rio is abuzz with rumours that its Carnival bash could be host to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Venezuela's Government oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, is paying a Carnival parade group that will sing about Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar a personal hero of Chavez. But with Carnival just weeks away, Chavez has not confirmed he will come. And Rio is asking: Will he or won't he? Wilson Vieira Alves, president of the samba group Vila Isabel, confirmed that the group had invited Chavez to the parade at Rio's 70,000-capacity Sambadrome stadium but said there were problems. "The logistics of bringing a head of state from another country are very complicated," he has said. Alves confirmed that PDVSA was sponsoring the parade but declined to say how much money the oil company was pumping in. Local media have reported a $1 million payment. Alves said Vila Isabel also sent invitations to other South American presidents, but declined to name them. Vila Isabel's parade will feature the theme "I'm Mad About You America." The group's samba, written especially for Carnival, calls for South American unity and pays tribute to Bolivar. Local press reports said Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona could parade with Vila Isabel as a featured personality atop one of the floats. Anselmo Goes, a social columnist for the Rio daily O Globo, has published an item saying Chavez had confirmed he would attend. Goes cited the Brazilian Foreign Ministry as his source. But ministry officials said they had no knowledge of a possible visit by Chavez. They said if he came to Brazil, he would attend Carnival as a private citizen not as part of an official state visit. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |