Posted on 02/04/2005 8:35:20 PM PST by ken21
Garza and bride take Mexico by storm The ambassador and the beer queen grab the headlines
by Jeremy Schwartz
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, February 3, 2005
MEXICO CITY -- It is a wedding story that has captured the imagination of this country and set tongues wagging throughout the capital.
Ever since the news broke Sunday that U.S. Ambassador and Brownsville native Tony Garza is engaged to Mexico's wealthiest woman and heiress to the Modelo beer empire, the couple's picture has been plastered across front pages, and they have been subject to probing speculations among the Mexican media.
Will the glamorous, 41-year-old María Asuncion Aramburuzabala move to Texas with Garza and help him with a possible run for governor? Will Garza, 45, become a Mexican citizen? Will Garza switch from his beloved tequila to Corona, the top-selling brand of the Grupo Modelo company?
For now, Garza and Aramburuzabala, already dubbed the golden couple by one of Mexico City's largest dailies, are keeping mum. That hasn't kept the Mexican press from talking.
"Finally something agreeable, beautiful, but more than anything romantic. Hallelujah!" wrote Guadalupe Loeza in a humor column in Tuesday's La Reforma. "Can you imagine what this means? . . . Two neighbors that sometimes have their little problems but in the end still adore each other? Well sometimes they hate each other . . . but now it is love that will unite them."
On Tuesday, El Universal devoted most of the front page of its style section to the couple, complete with pictures of them snuggling at a recent event. El Universal was the first to report the pending nuptials after learning of a wedding notice that, according to Catholic tradition here, was tacked onto a church near Mexico City. A wedding date hasn't been set, but it could occur within a few months.
The wedding will bring together powerful political and economic forces. Forbes Magazine has reported Aramburuzabala's wealth at $1.5 billion, and the Wall Street Journal lists her as being among the world's most distinguished businesswomen. She assumed management of the Modelo brewing group after her father died in 1995.
Garza, a longtime confidante of President Bush, was appointed ambassador in 2002 after serving on the Texas Railroad Commission for four years. Before that, he was then-Gov. Bush's secretary of state. Hispanic Business Magazine has twice named him one of its Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics.
Jorge Chabat, an expert on Mexico-U.S. relations at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching, said that beyond being an interesting love story, the fact that the U.S. ambassador is taking a Mexican bride "makes the Mexican people feel proud."
A far cry from his time as railroad commissioner in Texas, when Garza rarely made headlines, Garza's role as ambassador has put him squarely under the glare of the aggressive Mexico City media.
The news came as Garza was being criticized for expressing concern over the rash of slayings and kidnappings along the border. His statement that a lack of security could have a chilling effect on border commerce upset some Mexican officials and led to a sit-down with Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez to mend fences.
But for this week at least, headlines about Garza's wedding dwarfed those about the border dust-up.
4 your perusal, senor.
.
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bump
You know, I've been looking on the web for a pic of the bride-to-be, but then suddenly realized....it doesn't matter what she looks like. With that kind of money, she could be a toad.
HOW TO IMPRESS A WOMAN
Compliment her,
cuddle her,
kiss her,
caress her,
love her,
stroke her,
tease her,
comfort her,
protect her,
hug her,
hold her,
spend money on her,
wine & dine her,
buy things for her,
listen to her,
care for her,
stand by her,
support her,
go to the ends of the earth for her....
HOW TO IMPRESS A MAN
Show up naked.
.... with Beer
there was a small pic on the cover of the austin unamerican stateswoman yesterday.
she's ok.
Where's the BARF alesrt ??
She's OK. Not a natural beauty, though. Oh yeah, I forgot. It's what's on the INSIDE that counts. (The INSIDE of her pocketbook, that is.) meow.... :o)
i credited the story to the austin american stateswoman, couldn't you get the hint!
next time i'll use the austin unamerican stateswoman.
the paper sucks, dude!!
alesrt===oops....alert
has anyone seen him with mama T since Nov 2?
He may be needing a new mama
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I paused for an important philosophical discussion (#7)
; )
I hear she went back to her first married name.
she's quiet.
if she'd kept her mouth shut before the election, who knows?
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