Saturday, April 7th 2012 - 07:25 UTC

Uruguayan minister refers to Jesus Christ as that “skinny fellow crucified for being too candid”

A major controversy has erupted in Uruguay following what were considered ‘unnecessarily offensive’ references to Jesus Christ by Defence minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro during a conference at a businesspeople gathering this week in Montevideo.

Defence minister Fernandez Huidobro: “I call him skinny, he calls me pug-nosed”

The minister and former guerrilla leader referred to Jesus as “that skinny fellow who was crucified for being candid and who spent all his time preaching forgiveness”.

The statement was partly in reply to a question from the audience who asked if the Tupamaros guerrilla would publicly ask for forgiveness for having triggered the violence of the sixties that a decade later concluded in a military coup.

He went further and said that if there was to be forgiveness, “all sectors of (Uruguay) society had to seat round a big table and confess their share of the sins, the business community, the big landowners, the media, part of the political system, the military, foreign influence, so it is not a one side action. Furthermore since none of these sectors are going to admit those sins I tell them f… you man”.

However his statements did not go unnoticed by bishops from the Catholic Church and members of the political opposition.

In an open letter Bishop Jaime Fuentes, and who went to the same religious school as Fernandez Huidobro wrote, “Wait a minute, you’ve gone too far!”

“My brother, your slang has played you a trick: those are not words to refer to a personality which a majority of Uruguayans follow or respect.”

Former president and Senator Luis Alberto Lacalle also called for ‘a public apology’ from the minister given his lack of respect for Uruguayans beliefs and none else than during Holy Week.

However Fernandez Huidobro in an open letter published in a government financed newspaper replied to the bishop and his former school mate.

“You argue that my slang referred to Jesus has backfired on me: let me tell you the word ‘candid’ (slang version) is commonly used in the tango songs to describe and pay homage to a guy who is honest and generous, this you can’t ignore”.

“In the slang of the lawless and criminals ‘candid’ refers to those who are honest and hardworking” adds Fernandez Huidobro a historic leader of the Tupamaros and who was in jail from 1970 to 1985, when the return of democracy.

However, ‘candid’ in River Plate slang can also refer to a person who is evil, wicked or plain dumb.

Furthermore “in my personal relation with Jesus, which has always been at the same level, he calls me pug-nosed (nick-name) and I call him skinny, whether you like it or not”. And in reference to the expression “Long live Christ King!”, with which Bishop Fuentes signed his letter and which was how the day ended at the Catholic school they both attended, the minister recalls that “it is well known that this is clearly a fascist rally cry”.

“So please in fraternal confidence don’t yell it any longer: it’s highly embarrassing, a public immolation” concluded his letter Fernandez Huidobro, minister of Defence of the second left wing coalition government to rule Uruguay.

Bishop Rodolfo Wirz and Vice-president of Uruguay’s Episcopal Conference said that the statements from the minister “were not pertinent and non-corresponding” and invited Fernandez Huidobro in a very ‘healthy gesture” to come forward and “suggest that it was a bad moment he went through”.
 

23 comments Feed

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1 Skåre (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 07:48 am Report abuse
As far as I take sides when two grown men are arguing about what is appropriate reverence for a fictional character - not to mention which hood has the the sicker slang - I'm definitely with 'Can you hear the drums Fernando?' on this one.
2 Think (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 08:57 am Report abuse
HE was a skinny fellow...... wasn't he?
3 Skåre (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 09:07 am Report abuse
@2 Think

All skin and bone by the age of 38 (or so I am told)
4 Think (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 10:08 am Report abuse
(3) Skåre

At 38....; only bones more likely, din gudbestottende Norske trampedanser :-)
5 Skåre (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 10:15 am Report abuse
Well, they don't seem to be able to make their mind up when he was born and died, so I had to randomly pick one of the possible ages ;)

PS: With or without stilettos?
6 Think (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 10:30 am Report abuse
(5) Skåre

You being from Nordland or Troms….
With stilettos, of course!
7 Skåre (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 10:35 am Report abuse
You are almost as kinky as Fernandez Huidobro ;)
8 lsolde (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 12:19 pm Report abuse
l was taught that J.C. was 33 when he died/was killed.
Who really knows?
9 hernanimken (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 01:11 pm Report abuse
that's what happens when you get repeatedly raped in a military prison along with your family. now what's your excuse for being so anachronistically anticlerical at a time when nobody gives a shit about the said fictional character, did you have to serve some time ?
10 Skåre (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 02:48 pm Report abuse
Why are you so anachronistically pro-cleric?
11 hernanimken (#) Apr 07th, 2012 - 06:36 pm Report abuse
does “at a time when nobody gives a shit about the said fictional character” sound 'pro-cleric' to you? well, it isn't. We might have a tiny atention deficit disorder, mightn't we? I don't believe in christian dogma more than I believe in climate change bullshit.
12 Skåre (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 05:14 am Report abuse
“climate change bullshit”? Oh, one of them lot - that explains it.
13 lsolde (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 06:29 am Report abuse
The climate is changing & we aren't helping.
But we're not causing it.
lts a natural phenomena thats happened many times before.
And will happen again after we've gone.
14 Think (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 07:55 am Report abuse
In my humble opinion…..

Global warming is quite a complex issue (As Argie politics and economy)
Natural variables as plankton booms, volcano eruptions, solar flares, etc. can change the Earth climatic equation quite dramatically.

But………………… We humans have also a “big fat footprint” in this equation.

Indisputable, indubitable incontrovertible incontestable and irrefutable, scientifically proven examples are the polar Ozone Holes just over our very heads, my dear Isolde and Skåre………
www.theozonehole.com/
www.theozonehole.com/arcticozone.htm

And, there are many other known and proven examples of human causes of climatic misbalances out there.

We should, at least, take the responsibility that’s ours.
15 lsolde (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 11:11 am Report abuse
@14 Think,
l faltered when l read “humble” in your post, Think.
One thing you are not, is humble. Quite the opposite in fact!
Humble, indeed! ha ha.
There are many examples of climate change in the past.
Look at the ruins being uncovered by retreating ice in Greenland.
People lived there from about 1000ad to about 1500ad.
Then the ice advanced & covered the land.
l doubt very much whether humans had anything to do with that.
There was a warm spell in northern Europe at that time,
What about before when the ice sheets covered Europe & North America?
Did humans cause the ice to retreat?
Of course not.
Don't be a turnip all your life, Think.
16 Think (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 12:52 pm Report abuse
(15) Cher, haughty Isolde

Nobody is denying the cyclical nature of our Planet Earth climate.

We are just drawing your kind attention to the fact that we humans are adding some potentially very dangerous elements into the climate equation.

We shouldn’t do that.

As we all know, it takes just a little less than 50 milligram (0.002 oz) of Tetrodotoxin to kill a 7,500 kg (17,000 lb) Elephant.

0.01 milligram ( 0.000004 oz) of 210Po would do the job too, though slower.

Small things matter....., Cher, haughty Isolde.
17 Skåre (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 01:19 pm Report abuse
Well, that's the point. Being sceptical about the extent of man-made climate change is one thing, but flatly denying the obvious and indisputable climate change that is happening all around us is a whole different kettle of fish.

Personally I am more in Think's camp and believe that man is a big factor that is exacerbating the natural cycles of our planet and solar system.
18 Think (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 07:39 pm Report abuse
(17) Skåre

Solar system?
19 lsolde (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 09:27 pm Report abuse
@16 Dearest “Humble”Think,
One has to present a certain “haughtyness”when dealing with ignorant peons(such as yourself). Must be my Viking blood.
lf you cared to re-read my post#13 l said that we were CONTRIBUTING to climate change but NOT causing it. l stand by that.
Which we are. Do you want an arguement just for the sake of argueing, my green-eyed swamp monster?
The pollution output from one volcano is equal to many millions of car exhausts or factory chimneys.
And there are quite a few volcanoes in the world.
You would have experienced the one near you, last year.
Of course every little bit adds up.
But if ALL humans were suddenly removed from the earth, climate change would still continue.
20 Think (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 10:15 pm Report abuse
Then we agree.............
(I knew you'll get hooked on my green eyes... You're not the first ;-)
21 lsolde (#) Apr 08th, 2012 - 10:31 pm Report abuse
Blue eyes, Think, l fall for baby blue eyes, with curling golden lashes.
Like three of my four children.
22 rebeldenacion (#) Apr 09th, 2012 - 05:23 am Report abuse
And just what did you all expect from Argentina, a repeat performance of course.......for your viewing pleasure:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyPC0SD0PGw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTBAjfgHLyk&feature=relmfu
www.youtube.com/watch?v=azwWSN2pukk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSvQw00SV-c
www.ripoffreport.com/government-worker/argentina-tourists-m/argentina-tourists-murdered-l-33f51.htm
www.ripoffreport.com/federal-government/cristina-kirchner/cristina-kirchner-cristina-kir-dc9b0.htm
23 hernanimken (#) Apr 10th, 2012 - 01:32 pm Report abuse
(22) great! may be you also have clips of the 'grasas' offering their jewels to help fund the invasion in 82...those were really funny.

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