CARLOTTA VEGA   PLAYED BY:  PATRICIA MAUCERI           MARCH 1995 -- PRESENT

The mother of Antonio and Cristian Vega, Carlotta and her late husband, Diego made a good life together running a diner in Angel Square, a community they came to love.  After her husband died, Carlotta struggled to keep the diner, but was finally forced to give it up.

            Taking on the position of Dorian Lord's maid, she was able to earn enough money to keep her family home.  Carlotta worked for Dorian for years, but it was not until 1995, that she took her place alongside the other major characters of Llanview.

            The neighborhood of Angel Square was plagued with increasing crime and violence, and she worried that her youngest son, Cristian, would become a member of a gang, as did his older brother, Antonio. 

            Antonio was presently incarcerated at Statesville Prison for the murder of a fellow gang member, which he did not commit.

            Eventually, with the hard-fought efforts of people like Carlotta, who  successfully battled the gangs who terrorized their community, Angel Square once again became a peaceful place in which to live.

            Carlotta later left Dorian's employ and went to work at the DK Diner that had once belonged to her. When the diner was put up for sale, Carlotta feared she would lose her job.  She wanted desperately to buy the diner, but couldn't raise the money.

            Meanwhile, Bo Buchanan was trying to find out who was dealing in weapons in Angel Square.  He decided to get Antonio out of prison and have him work undercover, as Antonio had grown up there, and knew most of the people.

            Antonio started working for Carlo Hesser.  When he found out his mother needed money to buy the diner, he got it.  She, however, did not want anything from him that had come from Carlo, especially his blood money.  Antonio went ahead and bought the diner for his mother.

            When Antonio was arrested for Carlo’s murder in 1996, Carlotta was heartbroken, but rejoiced when he was cleared of all charges.

            When Cristian started seeing Jessica Buchanan, Carlotta and Jessica’s father, Clint would meet frequently.  At first, Clint was not thrilled at all about Cristian and Jessica's relationship, but once he got to know him, he realized that Cris was a decent young man.   He was also becoming more and more attracted to Carlotta. 

 Clint and Carlotta had a short lived romance in 1996, but things never got off the ground.  They took a memorable trip to New York City, but Carlotta still felt a sense of devotion to her late husband, and refused to sleep with Clint.   Realizing their relationship had changed, Clint and Carlotta parted as friends on Carlotta's birthday on October 24th, 1996.

            The early part of 1997 was very satisfying for Carlotta Vega.  Her son, Antonio had all prior convictions cleared from his record and Carlotta had grown to care about his girlfriend, Andy Harrison.  As for her personal life, Carlotta had begun to date Hank Gannon, Llanview’s District Attorney.

            In 1998, Carlotta welcomed an old family friend, Tea Delgado, then a few months later, Tea’s niece, Roseanne, showed up in town.  Roseanne and Cristian had been childhood sweethearts and she was hoping to renew their love.  When Cristian and Roseanne were married, Carlotta was not happy, as she knew the true love of his life was Jessica Buchanan.

 Antonio aced his LSAT tests, and was planning to attend Berkeley law school.  He and Andy were married in Angel Square, and even though she encouraged him to go, when the newlyweds left for California, Carlotta cried as she said goodbye.

            Months later, when Tea left town with Todd Manning, she wrote letters to Roseanne and RJ, giving Roseanne the penthouse, and RJ a million dollars.  Refusing to accept the money, RJ turned around and gave it to Roseanne.  Now a rich woman, Roseanne did not waste any time using the money to her own advantage.  Roseanne bought the diner, and when Cristian told her he wanted a divorce, she threatened to close it down unless he changed his plans.

            In time, Roseanne realized all the harm she had done.  She agreed to a divorce.  Carlotta informed them that the church would never recognize a divorce, so they had the marriage annulled, and Roseanne signed ownership of the diner over to Carlotta.

            Carlotta and Hank’s relationship became a full fledged affair, but soon their feelings for one another would be put to the test.  A music promoter, Jacara Principal, came to Llanview and went into partnership with RJ.  When she met his brother Hank, she became interested in him immediately.  Carlotta did not like Jacara, and the feeling was mutual.

            When Hank decided to take a break and go to his cabin, Bo tried talking Carlotta into joining him, bur she refused, as she and Hank had had a disagreement and she was going to wait until he returned to talk with him.  In the meantime, Jacara, who also knew where Hank was going, made it her business to go up to the cabin.  Renee also told Carlotta to fill a suitcase with black lingerie and head up to meet Hank, but she declined.

            Jacara showed up at Hank’s cabin with a complete steak dinner for two, and two bottles of wine.  They joked about the fish he caught and then she proceeded to clean them.  Afterwards, Jacara told Hank she would have to go outside and wash her hair to get all the fish scales out, and she left.  A few minutes later there was a knock at the door…….it was Carlotta.  She told him she knew he was mad at her, but she came to apologize.  Then she told him that she missed him and hoped he missed her also.  Suddenly the door opened and Jacara came in, with her bathing suit and her hair wet.  Carlotta gave her a look that said just what she thought of her.

            Hank politely asked Jacara to leave.  When she was gone explained to Carlotta that he did not invite Jacara up there, she just showed up.  Then they put that episode behind them and made love.

            During that time period, Carlotta made the decision to become the foster mother of a young boy named Eli.  When she gave Cristian the news, he informed her that he was going to rent Antonio’s old apartment, so when Eli moved in, he would be moving out.  Carlotta felt as though she was being torn in half.  If she took Eli in, she would lose Cristian.  With the help of Andrew Carpenter, Carlotta’s mind was put to rest, as he told her she was doing the right thing.

            In 2000, Carlotta faced another upheaval in her life, when Cristian, trying to help Will Rappaport escape from the authorities, went into hiding with Will and Jessica Buchanan.    After being on the run for months, Asa got word where they were and had the police arrest Cristian and Jessica. They were brought back to Llanview.

Antonio returned from California, after having marital problems, where he entered the Llanview Police Academy and became a law enforcement officer. 

Carlotta continues to have more than her share of problems, and worries constantly about her family.  Even with all her worries, Carlotta’s deep faith allows her to have hope of a better tomorrow for all of them.