Television astrologer Walter Mercado, whose glamorous persona made him a star in Latin media and a cherished icon for gay people in most of the Spanish-speaking world, has died. "This is a culture that's been dominated by machismo and homophobia for a very long time," Fumero said in a phone interview. Fumero said he grew up watching Mercado and recalled his grandmother shushing him every time the astrologer delivered his predictions: "If Walter was on TV, everybody had to be quiet." He had been living in the suburb of Cupey and had spent several days in the hospital before his death. Mercado was hospitalized in December 2011 in Puerto Rico following a cold that turned into pneumonia.

Source: ABC News November 03, 2019 18:37 UTC