Who is Mayara Tavares?

By Stephen Kral on July 10th, 2009

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The big news item yesterday, and probably today too, was a controversial picture taken of the US President at the G8 conference in L’Aquila, Italy, now being referred to as “O-bum-a-gate”. In the picture, President Barack Obama, as well as French President Nicolas Sarkozy, appear to be checking out the backside of a seventeen-year-old Brazilian junior delegate by the name of Mayara Tavares. However, video footage recently released by ABC news show that Obama was not, indeed, checking the young delegate out, but rather was helping another junior delegate down the steps. That is to say, he was being a gentleman. Sarkozy, on the other hand? Still looks like he was checking out Tavares. Oops.

As to Mayara Tavares, she is from the outskirts of Rio de Janero, Brazil and was participating in the J8 (Junior 8) summit portion of the G8 conference. In Brazil, she is a social and progressive activist, helping fight for the rights of children and adolescents in her community, especially those living in the infamous shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro.