Jaime Cinza notes that every time he walks the streets of Peru, he encounters “illegal traffic.” Photo and video: Fiorella Bazan/LR
Journalist and Presenter The Eighth Commandment, Jaime Sincha RavinesSpeaking – in an interview Republic– About how governments Pedro Castillo Y In Boluarte They tested the limits of democracy. In this regard, he thinks they share a common denominator: the inability to break out of Peruvian paralysis. He commented on the journalism industry, his time at Channel N and his time at Villax, the medium he found.
Accidentally or undeservedly, from the press, you may have detractors or enemies, because you are very cavalier to those on the right, and to those on the left and right, have you felt that view from both corners these years? As a journalist?
—Sometimes, I think the world is full of labels that don't match the essence of the problem. I consider myself someone from the center, in the least cowardly sense of the word. To begin with, I am not a political actor, I am an observer, a critic, an opinion, a columnist. I am a DNI and someone who expresses myself because I am a citizen of Peru.
The job I've got allows me to say what I think, because this is a free country as far as I know, and if I'm very cavalier I don't think before I do or say something. I believe one should pre-analyze because I believe in critical thinking, but that doesn't make me a leftist. Welcome to the one from the left. Whoever is on the right, welcome. We've lost a table where we could sit down and talk, have a conversation and disagree.
– These are tough times for the country, although it already seems stable since PPK. I have heard people say that we are living in a dictatorship, a soft dictatorship, transitioning to an autocracy, a country with a weak democracy, what country do you live in?
– I live in Peru and every time I go out I encounter illegal traffic. Every time I comment on the news of a new politician turned crook, I feel more in Peru because he has lost his compass. I believe we are at one of the most defining moments in our history.
With the knowledge of what Mrs. Polwarte has already seen, given her timeline, it is highly unlikely that she will be able to lead any dictatorship. She's like Castillo: Castillo wanted to create a dictatorship that lasted 90 minutes. Don't make me laugh, Mrs. Poluiarte is the same. I don't believe we are in a dictatorship that is incapable of executing or even declaring a dictatorship. Castillo, at least, shakily read a piece of paper and went to prison from there. People who believe Castillo should return are crazy. We are in a crumbling democracy.
– The end of Pedro Castillo is a sad chapter in our country's history. A reclusive president who tried to become a dictator, do you think his palace history would have been different if he hadn't started ruling alone?
– Castillo arrived with the rural people of Peru. He had small councils, the Sotanos, on the one hand, and the family on the other, Peru Libre, which had already begun to trouble him. They have established a story that Castillo is coming in 2021 because of the PL program. That's a lie. Castillo came to the palace due to Fujimori's opposition, and Veronica Mendoza accompanied her. It was a Pyrrhic victory.
Had Castillo arrived in a happier or more democratic environment, perhaps the same would have happened. Perhaps Castillo has been the protagonist of the most ridiculous coup in recent Republican history.
—Do you see the possibility of having a Javier Mile or Nayeb Bugele in our country? Because they are so fashionable.
– Conditions are given. Mileilovers are on the rise: Peru is the second country with the most Milei followers in Latin America. Followers in Congress and in the street have every right, but not Peruvian Miley. Some on the right are rehearsing, who knows. This Milei and Bukele people is a global phenomenon.
-Given the left's stumble with Pedro Castillo, what qualities do you think Peru's new president might possess?
– The worst that can happen to us is the worst. Peru wants to search for Dante's tenth circle, Dante's circles are not ten, they are nine, and we are already at nine. A second round is something that shouldn't happen between Andoro and Keiko.
I would say Carlos Alvarez could have many options, I'm not promoting anything, I'm doing real 'realpolitik'. He has a lot of mileage and lacks conceptual consistency. He is a great follower, a comedian who has his ups and downs, but not a politician. There are some on the right, like Rafael Belante or Cateriano, but the right wing has no choice but to join.
What do you think happened to the National Police and cartoonist Carlos Dover?
– I feel that freedom of expression is once again under the temptation of not being able to enjoy it. Things get serious here because of the threat from the PNP. I don't recall a report where the police threatened to report a cartoonist. Eventually he tells Carlin that these are medallions that make the cartoon travel to spaces Carlin himself never imagined. Something is missing, I think it's more than just a strap. It bothered them because there is some truth there, there are good police officers, I take my hat off to them, but there are also fraudsters. It was a threat, but at the same time the cartoon told them its truth.
—Independent media asks for support to survive, not going too far, César Hildebrandt's weekly magazine seeks financial support from Yap, how do you see this from your position in television?
– I wouldn't say it's a problem they're going through, as if they had a past, the event flies by. There's a large public that's informed by cell phone, there's independent media, there's all kinds of media.
An event that usually happens in the country can happen. When the economy was liberalized here, in 93 or so years, many of the workers working in public enterprises had to go out and look for work. Here they imported some small, basic Korean cabs and they started driving taxis. The market became competitive. I think something similar is happening in the media: independent media are like the Combis or Custers of the nineties and conquer the market. Eventually they will realize that it is best to come together. I think the future is going digital and there will be room for everyone.
—We are reading less on paper, do you think the printed magazine will die?
—I don't like it, I'm one of those people who go to a bookstore and smell the books. I'm going to hold on to it. But as the generations pass, it is inevitable that paper will lose its market, at least in the written press. For those of us who want paper, leave the paper. Here are two mediums that are cornering the market Trade Y RepublicOthers are further down.
– His last interview with you Republic In May 2022, you had two weeks The Eighth CommandmentWhat is your vision now after so many more shows?
– It's a journey. Doing a daily schedule is like taking a live test every day. I'm going to broadcast the same error when I'm going to take an exam or a midterm, that's the feeling I have. I prepare, I study, I have The latterI have the constitution on paper, I have my laptop, that's it Vintage. The program finds me at a very mature age.
– You had a difficult moment on TV with Mauricio Mulder, and it reminded you of the interview you did in the vehicle. Why are you so angry?
-Yes definitely. I don't like that format. I started pressuring him about APRA party registration and we started arguing about the leader of JNE, he was using adjectives and I thought it was his irritation because he had problem with registration. He didn't know what to answer anymore and went on the offensive again with labels.
– What do you think about Vilax and what happened to it? Wasn't the owner Erasmo Wong when you were there, do you think his arrival was the turning point or change that led the channel to where it is today?
– I installed Vilax, good guy. I wrote – along with other voices – a style book. Erasmo Wong and what he is now is not by any stretch of the imagination or a dream. They have the right to do what they want, they have their audience, they have people watching them, that's it. There is no point in comparing. They wanted to build Canal N 2.0, today's plan is different.
– During the 2021 election campaign, many media outlets took a stance that allowed them to reflect on the content, press coverage. Canal N and America didn't escape it, what was your view of what happened and did it make you hesitate to return home?
– Obviously yes, definitely yes. When we talked, our conditions were very clear: freedom, autonomy to develop a journalistic project and to feel fulfilled, to tell people what I thought. The challenge that I put in my project is very big. The Eighth Commandment, honoring my Catholic heritage at Sambagnat School. I am currently agnostic, but I should know that there is a Catholic majority.
– You admitted to being a night reader, is night the best time to read?
– During the day, I read what I had to read Background. I am usually very sensitive to noise and Lima is very loud so I isolate myself to study. Night is for reading literature.
– Do you still smoke? Defending the habit, you once said, “You had big lungs.”
– I'm not going to escape now, it's a vice that shouldn't spread, a vice that I care for, I hope I can leave it, that answer was brilliantly justified, I don't want to die of cancer.
