Raúl Velasco in 2006 in Coconut Grove, Florida. (Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images)
The character of Raúl Velasco continues to be controversial and transcends the medium of entertainment, having an impact on the social, cultural and political spheres through what he did in front of the cameras but also through what he did behind the cameras . In addition, the public, scientists and writers do not like to remember his name.
The statement by Úrsula Camba, doctor of history at the College of Mexico, that “there was never enough talk about what a bad person Raúl Velasco was” has been very popular with users of X (formerly Twitter) these days. Camba emphasized that this was the case a “terrible” creature because “he ruined the careers of many artists” based on humiliation, harassment and blockages.
Today, Sunday, it occurred to me that there was never enough talk about what a bad person Raúl Velasco was.
— Ursula Camba (@ursulacamba) January 28, 2024
The doctor's comment was supported by other people who share her opinion.
Julia Santibanezcurrent coordinator of the Carlos Fuentes UNAM chairman and author of El lateral B de la cultura, Volume 2, referred to My Hidden Face, an autobiographical book by Raúl Velasco, and pointed out that “nothing stands out more than the intention to be to settle ” the clouds.” . The author accuses the presenter of excessive flattery towards himself: “So much fanfare in one’s own voice creates suspicion.”
This bad reputation came with it to Velasco since he started always on Sundays in 1969 until it stopped broadcasting in 1998. For three decades, thanks to this television space and the power that Emilio Azcárraga Milmo gave him to impose or ignore artists from the music scene, he was the strong man of Televisa's show and entertainment.
His dislike of rock in English and Spanish was well known. As a proponent of the idea that “image is everything”, he positioned himself as a showman who despised this musical genre because of the lyrics of his songs, its sound, the profile of its performers and the profile of its audience. For this reason, the doors of the program have been closed to groups in this area. And when he arrived to receive guests like Men G The bands asked the audience for forgiveness for welcoming such singers.
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He also rejected representatives of pop music such as Chico Che because of his appearance. In 1988, the singer-songwriter was invited to sing along always on Sundays But they made it a condition that he wear clothes other than the overalls he normally wore. The musician argued that he had dressed like this throughout his career and went on stage in his signature outfit. The production decided to shorten his number and not air it. It was said that it was due to technical errors, but the censorship order came from Velasco.
When Chico Che died in 1989, Velasco decided to reclaim the censored number to broadcast as “In Memoriam.” The Tabasco composer's fans were upset that the presenter profited from the musician's death which he didn't want to show a year earlier and which he wanted to use to increase his ratings after his death.
Even on the show he failed to hide his arrogance, his discriminatory attitude and his classism. The writer Julia Santibáñez recalled in El lado B de la cultura, Volume 2, when he behaved rudely towards Thalía during a live broadcast, commenting in front of everyone: ““They took away the electricity that was given to you on the first day.” Another embarrassing moment was when he received the group Bronco and mockingly addressed the singer Lupe Esparza as “ugly” and “gorilla”.
Still alive, the clown Cepillín offered interviews in which he noted that it was Velasco who had asked Televisa executives to fire him of programming. The reasons for this request, according to Cepillín, were ratings and ego; Velasco didn't want another family program to have higher ratings than Always on Sunday.
He also insulted and attacked the public. When the second generation of the Locomía was introduced, supporters of the original model series protested in the forum with a “thumbs down” sign. This gesture disturbed the driver. He angrily approached one of the fans to distort his claim, insult her and order her to leave.
The publication of Dr. Camba prompted Internet users to search their memories and rescue a text by journalist, playwright and screenwriter Vicente Leñero. It’s about “But how are you doing this to me,” shouted Raúl Velasco. It is a story in which Leñero tells the anecdote of what happened in a restaurant in the Zona Rosa, where he was asked by the presenter to hire his services and those of the playwright Ignacio Solares as screenwriters for the film Always on Sunday.
The conversation was harsh due to Velasco's bad character, which did not go unnoticed by Leñero: “His irritability, his importance, his well-earned role as a famous person drove me crazy and led me to commit an accident that Solares later described as a failed act.” He spilled milkshakes on her, which made her so angry that she cried. The film was written in 1984 by Fernando Galiana and Ramón Obón and directed by René Cardona Jr.
A story that further obscured his figure is that of the singer Laureano Brizuela. It was in 1989 that news of his arrest and imprisonment in Mexico for tax evasion caused a stir. The Interpreter was published in 1990. Decades later, he explained that the perpetrator was Raúl Velasco Jr., who acted as his representative and reported no more than $400,000 in appearances and record sales. Brizuela maintains his position that he was handed over as a “scapegoat” by the driver to save his son from prison.
17 years after his death, Raúl Velasco explores himself out of his shadow. There is an area in the collective imagination that remembers him for his dark presence in the Mexican show and the power he gained.
