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Uruguayan Bishop Resigns over Gay Sex Scandal

3 Jul 2009

mons_barbosa_vcg I guess the bishop of Minas, Uruguay, Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, 65, thought it would safe to report extortion attempts against him to police without anyone knowing what the alleged extorters were threatening to reveal: that he was having sex with other male members of the clergy as well as two prisoners he had hired to help out around his office. How silly of him.

Pope Benedict XVI dismissed the bishop of Minas (Uruguay), Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, who denounced an extortion that left uncovered he was having homosexual relations, informed today the Vatican.

In a brief bulletin the press office of the Vatican informed that the pontiff has received the resignation in accordance to the paragraph 401.2 of the Code of Canon law, the fundamental law that applies to the catholic Church.

This regulation says: “The diocesan bishop is asked earnestly to present the resignation to his office if for illness or another serious cause there was remaining diminished his aptitude to redeem it”.

“The Holy Father accepted the resignation to the pastoral government of the diocese of Minas presented by monsignor Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, in conformity of the article 401,2 of the CDC”, indicated the Vatican in the bulletin.

The two prisoners videotaped the encounter with a cell phone and were threatening to use the material to “out” the bishop.

Thinking about it a bit more, I guess with all of the child molesters in the clergy that get off with nary a slap on the wrist, Barbosa was probably right to think he could do the same.

Via / Momento 24 and 20 Minutos

Mario Benedetti,Uruguayan Poet & Novelist Passes On

6:23 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Uruguay · Comments Off

18 May 2009

I was very saddened to learn that one of my favorite Latin American writers, Uruguyan Mario Benedetti, passed away yesterday. A poeta of love and revolutions, Benedetti’s writing led him into exile during Uruguay’s military dictatorship. He later returned to his birthplace. He wrote over 80 books, including la Tregua , which is required Latin American reading in my opinion. Benedetti’s writings have even been turned into films, and I have to admit that my favorite pop culture moment involving him is in the film El Lado Oscuro del Corazon.

“An intellectual’s weapon is writing, but sometimes people react as if it were a firearm. A writer can do a lot to change the situation, but as far as I know, no dictatorship has fallen because of a sonnet,” he said at a conference in 1997.

Hasta siempre…

Via / The Latin Americanist, Reuters

April is National Poetry Month : Delmira Agustini

12:00 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Uruguay| Women| literature · Comments Off

14 Apr 2009

Today’s poem comes from Uruguyan poet Delmira Agustini (October 24, 1886 – July 6, 1914).

Explosión

Si la vida es amor, bendita sea!
Quiero más vida para amar! Hoy siento
Que no valen mil años de la idea
Lo que un minuto azul del sentimiento.

Mi corazon moria triste y lento…
Hoy abre en luz como una flor febea;
La vida brota como un mar violento
Donde la mano del amor golpea!

Hoy partio hacia la noche, triste, fría
Rotas las alas mi melancolía;
Como una vieja mancha de dolor
En la sombra lejana se deslíe…
Mi vida toda canta, besa, ríe!
Mi vida toda es una boca en flor!

For English keep reading

President of Uruguay Resigns from Socialist Party Over Abortion

1:41 pm By Maegan La Mala · Uruguay · Comments Off

8 Dec 2008

The President of Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez, officially broke with the Socialist Party over a move that attempts to legalize some abortions in the country.

Last month, Vazquez vetoed legislation that would have legalized abortion in the first trimester due to hardship on the basis of economics, family, age, health, or risk to the mother’s life. A three-fifths majority vote to override the veto was attempted but failed.

Current law in Uruguay criminalizes all abortion except in cases of rape or endangerment of the mother’s life. A public opinion poll found that 57% of Uruguayans support legalized abortion, according to Agence France Presse.

Vazquez could always join the U.S. Republican Party, after all they are looking for Latinos.

Via / Feminist Majority

Uruguaya Sues Boss Because She Doesn’t Have Any Work to Do

11:11 am By Maegan La Mala · Bizarro| Justice| Labor| Uruguay · 1 Comment

18 Aug 2008

Has lawsuit abuse spread to Latin America as well? An Uruguyan woman is suing her employer because she has no work to do. Spain’s 20 Minutos reports that a city government worker in Rio Negro, Uruguay, Emilia Colman, spends her entire day doing nothing except “looking at the ceiling” from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Colman claims she’s asked her boss to give her work but her pleas have gone unanswered, so she’s suing her employer for the equivalent of 25,000 euros for “morale damage”. She is also asking for a 3,000 euro per year raise.

While on the surface this might sound silly, it seems that Emilia might have been getting the boot from her employer in a roundabout way. There are many cases where an employer has made working conditions so miserable that the employee has no choice but to leave (remember Milton from Office Space?). And that’s what Colman believes is happening here. She’s been working for the city since 1999, and 3 years ago they changed her from one area to another. First she lost her office, then she lost her computer. Now she has nothing to do.

Nothing to do without a computer is brutal. As my office worker friends can attest to, having nothing to do at work can be fun. As long as you have the Internet.

Via / 20 Minutos

Shakira to marry?

4:24 pm By Maegan La Mala · Celebrities| Chismes| Music| Uruguay · 2 Comments

31 Jan 2008

Is Colombiana superstar Shakira ready to walk down the aisle with her bf Antonio De la Rua? That’s what Spain’s El Pais is reporting today:

According to Uruguayan press, everything seems to indicate that they will marry in San Carlos, a Uruguayan town close to touristy Punta del Este, as the couple has been asking for information at the courthouse.

Although the exact date of the ceremony is unknown, many Uruguayan websites are already talking about the guest list. Among attendees names like Alejandro Sanz and Penélope Cruz are being heard, and these two are supposedly whom Shakira has chosen as padrinos for the wedding.

I wonder if this is fact or rumor. We’ve heard this so many times before it’s gotten hard to believe. Plus the Mexican brujo says it won’t happen.

In other news, Shakira is filthy rich.

Via / El Pais

Uruguay OKs Civil Unions

5:35 pm By Maegan La Mala · GLBT| Uruguay| society · 1 Comment

20 Dec 2007

Uruguay took a massive step towards equality yesterday when it became the first Latin American country to legalize same sex civil unions.

The Congress passed legislation creating a civil union registry for same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples.

The measure had previously passed the Chamber of Senators.

The new law was a manifesto commitment of the ruling leftist coalition of President Tabare Vasquez.

While gay marriage is still illegal in Uruguay, the move marks a step left in the traditionally Catholic country. And, of course, not everyone is pleased. PinkNews UK reports that a representative of the Uruguayan Episcopal Conference was quoted as saying “In no way can homosexual cohabitation be accepted because it does not meet the basic criteria defining marriage, it is therefore unacceptable to place it in suchlike equal level.”

Whatever. Congrats Uruguayos!

Via / PinkNews.co.uk

Bush and Chavez Dueling Tours Continue

12 Mar 2007

U.S. President Bush continues his goodwill tour of Latin America. He hugged Lula, talked trade with Uruguay, and practically ran through Colombia as protesters burned U.S. flags. Today Bush lands in Guatemala where he plans to talk about poverty. Meanwhile Venezuelan President and Bush arch-enemy, Hugo Chavez is touring the places Bush isn’t. In Argentina he sort of took back his statements made at the U.N earlier this year when he called Bush a devil who smelled of sulfur.

In the rally in Argentina, Chavez called Bush a “political cadaver” and said he didn’t smell like sulfur anymore. That’s probably not the sort of apology Bush was looking for but oh well.

Chavez continued his tour in Bolivia with pal Evo Morales, showing love to victims of El Nino storm flooding.

Via / CBS News

Eliana: Second model in the family to die

6:22 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Fashion| Health| Uruguay| Women · Comments Off

14 Feb 2007

A sad twist in sad case of Luisel Ramos, the Uruguayan model we told you about last summer, who died on a catwalk in Montevideo. Uruguayan press reports that Luisel’s sister, Eliana, 18 and also a model, has died the same way her sibling did: from cardiac arrest.

Doctors are saying that Eliana was a “normal sized girl” who was “healthy”. Her rep, Argentine agent Pancho Dotto, calls the speculation that her death might have been brought on by malnutrition “absurd” and says that she didn’t suffer from anorexia or bulimia (read the whole report in Spanish).

Curiously, these are the same things that were said about Luisel, though her father initially said that his daughter had not eaten for days.

So, what is it? Eating disorders shared by two sisters who happen to be involved in the industry most associated with the illness, or a genetic heart problem?

Via / Espectador.com

Image via El Nuevo Día

Debate over Uruguayan model’s cause of death

5:13 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Fashion| Health| Uruguay · Comments Off

8 Aug 2006

Last week we told you about a Uruguayan model, Luisel Ramos, who died of a heart attack while on the catwalk during Fashion Week in Montevideo. According to her father, the model had been starving herself for days, but now others have come forward to dispute that allegation, including her boyfriend who had dined with her the day night before the fashion show.

…amongst the pain of yesterday, after Luisel’s burial, her boyfriend Hairo Berrondo clarified that this [the starving] wasn’t true. Berrondo said that he has known her for ten years, and that he’s been her boyfriend for two and a half.

“The night before the fashion show we went out to eat pizza, with two friends of hers…she had a diet soft drink but ate well,” he said.

In response to the different versions of the story being circulated by the media, the model’s boyfriend confirmed that “[Luisel] was neither anorexic nor bulimic.”

Berrondo also dicsounted the possibility of her doing drugs or being an alcoholic. “She didn’t even drink beer,” he said.

According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, an autopsy proved that the model did not suffer from an eating disorder nor was she addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Via / La Nación

Image: Reuters

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