Despite the very brief reign of Miss Colombia, whose Miss Universe tiara was snatched away moments after erstwhile comedian Steve Harvey read her name as the winner, there was other recent news from South America that had one person’s identity resolved.
Several months back we wrote about pending paternity investigations and suits brought by alleged sons of Argentine racing great Juan Manuel Fangio. Well, we can drop the “alleged” from one of those descriptions. After Fangio’s body was exhumed in August and his remains tested for DNA against Oscar Espinoza’s, a judge has declared Espinoza the legal son of Fangio. According to the DNA tests, there is a 99.99 percent certainty that the Grand Prix great fathered Espinoza during a years-long affair he had with Andreina Berruet, Espinoza’s mother.
The younger Fangio, well, soon-to-be-Fangio since he has made it very clear that he will take his father’s name now that the courts have substantiated his claim, used the name Espinoza as it was Berruet’s husband’s name.
Espinoza personally knew Fangio as the five-time Formula 1 champ offered advice to his son during his attempts to make a name for himself in Formula 3 years after Fangio himself had retired.
While this clears up one aspect of Fagio’s offspring, another decision is pending in the ongoing case of Ruben Vasquez, who has alleged that 10 years ago his mother told him Fangio was his father and signed documents to this effect. That case is expected to see a decision sometime soon as well. We’ll keep you posted if the number of recognized Fangios continues to grow.
