CARLOS MENEM WEDS EX-BEAUTY-QUEEN CECILIA BOLOCCO IN A LOW-KEY CEREMONY

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    He made headlines when, as Argentina’s President, he claimed that Madonna was not the right person to play Evita Peron. And Carlos Menem made headlines again last weekend, when he married Chilean beauty queen Cecilia Bolocco, almost half his age, in the government mansion in La Rioja, Menem’s home province.

    In a low-key civil ceremony, Carlos, wearing a tan suit and matching tie, exchanged vows with the 36-year-old former Miss Universe, who had donned a white silk wedding suit with cutaway jacket and knee-length skirt. “I am very happy but especially with the people here, who have shown such affection for us,” said the 70-year-old.

    Cecilia, who will henceforth be known as Cecilia Carolina de Menem, won the Miss Universe crown in 1987 and now hosts a TV programme in her own country, said she was “very proud to bear the family name of someone who has done so much for this country.”

    The couple, who wed in front of 150 guests, were expected to have a much glitzier wedding, but the downsizing is thought to be due to Argentina’s difficult economic situation and the dark clouds hanging over the ex-President’s head. Earlier this month, Menem was called to give evidence in a case involving alleged illegal arms sales in 1991 and 1995. He has been accused of organising the deals, which have already led to the preventative imprisonment of his former defence minister and former brother-in-law and adviser Emir Yoma. Carlos can now only leave the country after being granted permission.

    Cecilia was forced to apologise to the Argentine nation after appearing on the cover of a popular magazine, with just a rabbit fur stole, dyed in the colours of the Argentine flag, to preserve her modesty. “I have been naïve,” she said. “If somebody thinks what I did is wrong, if any Argentinians feel offended, I apologise, but what I did was done with great respect and with great love.”

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