Rio taps spiritual help for sunny Obama visit

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Rio de Janeiro, famed for its warm beaches and sunny skies, has hired a spiritual guru to keep the clouds away for U.S. President Barack Obama visit this weekend.
Adelaide Scritori, a medium who followers believe can help control climate patterns, claims to make contact with an ancient spirit known as Chief Cobra Coral who, according to legend, is powerful enough to influence natural phenomena.
She goes into deep concentration so that she can communicate with the chief, and she asks him for good weather, said Osmar Santos, her husband and a spokesperson for the Chief Cobra Coral Foundation that supports Scritori work.
Scritori provides similar services for Rio ahead of its New Year celebrations and has also helped out during the visits of former U.S. President George W. Bush in 2007 and late Pope John Paul II in 1997.
Her intervention was credited with helping raise temperatures in London during an exceedingly cold winter in 1986, according to Santos.
Scritori may have her work cut out for Obama visit, which runs from Saturday night to Monday morning. Brazilian weather website Climatempo was forecasting partially cloudy weather with occasional showers.
Obama will be in Brasilia on Saturday and Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; editing by Stuart Grudgings and Anthony Boadle)