The pope gets a Brazilian coverup
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
The drill is becoming all too familiar to Paulistanos, as native residents of São Paulo, South America’s most populous city, are known. A VIP comes to town and authorities clear major thoroughfares, post legions of police and troops along motorcade routes, and restrict vehicular access, paralyzing the city’s already chaotic traffic.
It happened in March with George Bush, and this week with Pope Benedict XVI. Homeless were swept away, graffiti erased and potentially offensive advertisements were banished from the streets.
As the pope’s column rumbled down Avenida Consolação en route to a visit with President Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva, the pope may have glanced at a sign declaring, Bem-vindo [Welcome] Papa Bento XVI
That was undoubtedly a more appropriate sight to Benedict than the billboard’s previous incarnation: A sultry lingerie add featuring scantily clad Brazilian super-model Daniela Cicarelli, who seems to attract scandal. The leggy Cicarelli had been in the news last year for her attempts to quash web distribution of video footage showing her cavorting amorously with her boyfriend in the Spanish surf.
Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Marcelo Soares in São Paulo