Via Aporrea, I found out last night why Cilia Flores was not called the First Lady, but rather the First Combatiente of Venezuela. Turns out, she and Nicolás Maduro were only legally married yesterday! Prior to that, they had what was called a matrimonio civil, which in English we’d call a common-law marriage (not to be confused with civil marriage, which is a legal marriage without “benefit” of clergy). But since they decided to make it official (with a little help from their friend Jorge Rodríguez, the mayor of Caracas), some official congratulations are in order.
Knock yourselves out, you lovebirds!
First Combatiente sounds made-up. Marta Sahagun, when she was just living with Vicente Fox, and they hadn’t gotten around to standing before a judge, was un-abashedly referred to as “Primera concubina”… which sounds racy in English, but perfectly normal in Spanish. BTW, now that we have same-sex marriage in Mexico, the word “concubinos” for men who could tie the knot, but for one reason or another, haven’t… yet.