Abrázame muy fuerte (Embrace Me) is a Mexican telenovela that aired from July 2000 to February 2001, under the production of Salvador Mejía Alejandre.
It stars Victoria Ruffo, Fernando Colunga, Aracely Arámbula, César Évora, Nailea Norvind and Osvaldo Ríos.
Contents
Plot
Cristina (Victoria Ruffo) is a sweet and tender young girl, loved by everyone in "El Platanal", a beautiful estate owned by Don Severiano Álvarez (Joaquín Cordero), her father, a tough country man with a rigid character. Diego Hernández (Osvaldo Ríos), a strong young man who has fallen in love with Cristina, works as a foreman in this place. Given the love that Cristina also feels for Diego, she gives herself to him. Cristina confesses to her father that she is pregnant and that she loves Diego.
Severiano orders that Cristina and Raquela (Rossana San Juan), the maid, go to the capital for his daughter to have the child there. Due to the manipulations of Federico Rivero (César Évora), little María del Carmen returns to the estate as Raquela's daughter. Cristina, in order to be close to her daughter, is forced to marry Federico, a ruthless and ambitious man. From now on, before everyone's eyes, she will be the godmother of María del Carmen. Federico causes an accident as a result of which Cristina loses her sight; thus, her fortune passes into his hands.
Federico is happy with the arrival of his nephew, Carlos Manuel (Fernando Colunga), a handsome young man who has finished his medical studies abroad. Carlos Manuel falls in love with Déborah Falcón (Nailea Norvind), without knowing that she is the lover of his uncle. When Federico finds out about this relationship, he opposes it and looks for a way to separate Déborah from his nephew.
Simultaneously, the now adolescent María del Carmen (Aracely Arámbula) falls in love with Carlos Manuel from the moment she meets him, provoking the hatred of Déborah who, along with Federico, does everything possible to break up the young couple, managing to drift them apart, but without being able to make the love they feel for each other go out.
Carlos Manuel gets Ángel Luis Robles (Arnaldo André), his teacher and friend who is a specialist in ophthalmology, to analyze Cristina's case of blindness so that he can help him operate on her. Dr. Robles secretly falls in love with her and has a vested interest in her regaining her sight. Federico, eager to possess María del Carmen at any cost, tries to sexually abuse the young woman, but Cristina prevents it.
This awesome story, in which the purest feelings of the human being are shown, leads us to a series of surprises and emotions giving way to true love; the love that can only be felt when saying Embrace Me.
Cast
Main
Victoria Ruffo as Cristina
Fernando Colunga as Carlos Manuel
Aracely Arámbula as María del Carmen
César Évora as Federico
Nailea Norvind as Déborah
Osvaldo Ríos as Diego
Arnaldo André as Dr. Robles
Helena Rojo as Damiana
Alicia Rodríguez as Consuelo
Emilia Guiú as Flora
Joaquín Cordero as Severiano
Rosita Quintana as Eduviges
Lilia Aragón as Efigenia
René Muñoz as Regino
Alicia Montoya as Gumersinda
Dacia González as Candelaria
Pablo Montero as José María
Rossana San Juan as Raquela
Tina Romero as Jacinta
Aurora Clavel as Vicenta
Miguel Córcega as Father Ignacio
Eduardo Noriega as Pancho
Liza Willert as Clementina
Mario Casillas as Mayor / Marcelino
International broadcast
Brazil
In Brazil, the telenovela was dubbed into Portuguese and broadcast by SBT as "Abraça-me muito forte" at 2001.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, the telenovela was dubbed into Indonesian and broadcast by SCTV as "Carmenita" from late 2000 to early 2001 every Monday to Friday at 5 p.m.
Lebanon
In Lebanon, it was dubbed into Arabic (Levantine Arabic) and broadcast by LBCI as "أبقى معي" (Abqā Maʿī, meaning "Stay with Me") at 2001.
Philippines
In the Philippines, it was dubbed into Tagalog and broadcast by GMA Network as "Maria del Carmen" from November 17, 2003 to May 20, 2004.
United Kingdom and Australia
In the United Kingdom, it was dubbed into English and broadcast by Channel 4 as "Hold Me Tight" from late 2001 to early 2002, also changes few character names e.g. Carmen became Carmel, Cristina became Christina, Federico became Frederick, Raquela became Rachel, José María became Joseph Mary.
In Australia, it has the same broadcasting like in United Kingdom, but broadcast by Seven Network at 2002.
Remake
In 2015, Angelli Nesma Medina produced Que te perdone Dios for Televisa. Zuria Vega, Mark Tacher, Sergio Goyri and Rebecca Jones were cast as main protagonists.