Don Francisco had big plans for 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced him into incarceration and marked a change of course, leading him to a deep process of self-reflection that is currently a 400-page book and new show for CNN en Español. .
With 80 years and 59 years of experience, the Chilean communicator maintains a vital conversation and the enthusiasm of a beginner. Being away from the camera and out of touch with his audience is not an option for the animator, who has set up a virtual studio in an office near his hometown in Miami, from where he will reconnect with his audience from February 15-26. at 10:00 a.m. (Puerto Rico time), with Don Francisco: Reflections 2021.
“I never left. I have been in quarantine for almost a year due to my age. I had a lot of dreams in 2020, it was a very special year for me, of party here, of party in Chile … I wanted to go through my life, I wanted to invite my friends and in the end everything came to nothing, ‘he said without a trace of regret, the holder of a Guinness record for the longest-running variety show in television history, Sabado Gigante, from 1962 to 2015.
While at the barracks, he performed his traditional Telethon, although the first virtually, made a special for older adults and completed his third book, With desire to live, which he will publish in May, along with the audiobook, which is in his own voice. .
“It was an impact to stop working on television regularly and also to be in quarantine, to the extent that I was ultimately advised by a psychiatrist who will help me, explain and improve the areas where I can improve,” revealed the presenter in an interview with THE SPOKESMAN.
He added that “just as the world has shown the great inequality that exists and how quickly people are starting to drag on needs and hunger, it has left me as a reflection that I still have many areas to improve personally, areas where I need to know myself. better., areas where I am indebted to my family, my children, my grandchildren, my wife (Teresa Muchnik Rosenblum), because I have dedicated a lot to this passion of my life, which is to communicate, ”he acknowledged .
It is precisely the physical distance with his family, which he has not embraced for a year, that is one of the greatest wishes. The father of four and grandfather of nine extends the process of reflection precisely to his affection.
“I have had a conversation about it with my children and my grandchildren. This has taught me many lessons. For my children, who are half a century older, this has been a severe flu that needs to be addressed and it will leave a lot of poverty. For my grandchildren, who are between the ages of 22 and 34, this is a skirmish that will take place and the world will remain the same as ever, there will be no change. I kind of stuck with the idea of young people. I would like to think differently, but I think the world will remain the way it always was, ”he added.
A similar dynamic will be the one he will present in Reflexiones 2021, which will occupy Camilo’s calendar on CNN in Spanish for two weeks.
Without revealing names, he announced that among the 30 interviewees, there are “many Puerto Ricans, many stars everyone knows, important professionals who will accompany us in different areas of life. I hope it is entertaining, interesting and that people like it ”.
Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld, his first name, hopes the project will open the way for others.
To grow on the Internet
“Then we want to do something on the Internet and little by little we want to grow,” he said of the plans that his wife did not like.
‘My wife is mad at me for saying,’ you’ve come back to the same thing, ‘he expressed between humor and resignation.
About the book With Desire to Live, it features “what happened the day after 53 years of absence only once, ending on Saturday Giant. He talks about my weight struggles – I was born 12 pounds – and how I’ve struggled with weight all my life. He talks about the interviews I’ve done with Presidents (Bill) Clinton, (George) Bush, Bush Senior, (Barak) Obama, in the United States; he talks about the social outbreak in Chile, he talks about some anecdotes that happened to me all over the world, he talks about my passion to communicate, he talks about the state I am in when I turn 80 , ” he said.
Don Francisco claims to feel very well, at 22 pounds less, and wants to visit Puerto Rico, one of his most loyal listeners.
“I want to live. Of course I know I have to die and I know I won’t always be able to do this, but as long as I can … I think I can still communicate, which is my passion,” he repeated.