Mexican President Vicente Fox Marries Press Spokeswoman

M E X I C O   C I T Y, July 2, 2001 -- In a surprise ceremony at the presidentialresidence, President Vicente Fox married his spokeswoman, MarthaSahagun, today.

The two were married at Los Pinos at 7:30 a.m. local time, presidentialspokesman Victor Suberza said. Videotapes released by thepresident's office showed the smiling couple signing a weddingregister and kissing; the bride wore a white fitted suit.

The marriage, ending months of speculation about Fox'srelationship with Sahagun, occurred less than two hours before Foxmet Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar for an officialwelcoming ceremony at the National Palace in the center of MexicoCity.

"Congratulations for the first year of democratic change, foryour birthday, and they coincide with the fact that the presidentof the republic has gotten married this morning," Aznar said asFox smiled. "Triple congratulations."

Neither man was accompanied by his wife at the welcomingceremony.

No Honeymoon Details

There were no immediate details about plans for a honeymoon.Presidential sources said Sahagun would step down as chiefpresidential spokeswoman, and would be replaced by Francisco Ortiz,who is Fox's public opinion and image coordinator.

Sahagun had worked in Fox's administration when he was governorof Guanajuato, and rumors that the two were personally close aroseduring Fox's successful 2000 presidential campaign, in whichSahagun headed his press team.

With that election, Fox ended 71 years of rule by theInstitutional Revolutionary Party.

Both Fox, 59, and Sahagun, 49, are divorced and Roman Catholic.

Trouble in the Fox Family?

Within days of the July 2, 2000, election victory, the MexicoCity newspaper El Economista cited "sources close to both ofthem" as saying that Fox had told his children he planned to marrySahagun before his Dec. 1 inauguration.

But Fox's daughter Ana Cristina, who had been serving as firstlady, denied the report and hinted at a dislike of Sahagun: "Mrs.Martha works with my father," she said at the time. "We aren'tfriends and that's it."

The rumors prompted a magazine then published by the Catholicarchdiocese of Mexico City, Nuevo Criterio, to urge Fox to reunitewith his former wife, Lillian de la Concha, whom he divorced in1991 after a 20-year marriage.

On Dec. 28, Mexico's version of April Fool's Day, the newspaperLa Prensa ran a spoof story saying that Fox would marry Sahagun onValentine's Day.

Inventing Romances

Sahagun ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Celaya, a centralMexican city in Fox's home state of Guanajuato. She obtained acertificate in teaching English in Dublin, Ireland.

Fox married his first wife in 1971, and the two adopted fourchildren. In his autobiography, Fox wrote that the two graduallygrew apart. But he added, "to the day, we maintain a goodrelationship because of what we most care about in the world: ourchildren.

"Since I started my fight to reach the presidency I wasconstantly asked what I would do about the first lady, and theyeven invent romances for me.

"But I am completely immersed and devoted to my four childrenand my duties in politics; that consumes me 24 hours a day. Isoundly reject it when they say a president needs to be married."