Madonna, Fernandez and Betancourt meet
From the Daily Mail:
Madonna has returned to Argentina twelve years after playing the country’s former first lady Eva Peron.
The singer arrived in Buenos Aires for the Latin America leg of her world tour with her three children and a huge entourage including 200 dancers, technicians and crew members. She will give the first of four concerts on Wednesday.
The 50-year-old met with President Cristina Fernandez and former guerrilla-held hostage Ingrid Betancourt at Argentina’s presidential palace, where she filmed Evita 12 years ago.
Then-President Carlos Menem permitted her to film one of the movie’s most famous scenes on the balcony of the palace, where she sang Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.
Her role in the movie marked an emotional time for the 50-year-old who discovered she was pregnant with her first child Lourdes halfway through filming.
She spoke of her admiration for Peron who rose from poverty to the president’s wife before dieing of cervical cancer at the age of 33.
“What drew me to the role from the beginning was the story of this remarkable woman,” she said at the time.
“Where she came from, how she came up in the world, the incredible amount of influence she had over an entire country and the impact she had on the whole world… truth really is stranger than fiction.”
Madonna was visiting Argentina to thank its government for working to free hundreds of other hostages left behind.
Ms Fernandez brought Madonna and Ms Betancourt together for a brief meeting that was closed to the press.
Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was freed in July after being held more than six years in jungle camps by leftist rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.