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October 24, 2007

Transcript: Vicente Fox v. Telemundo's Ruben Luengas

If you're arriving here by search engine, the following is an English translation of a piece appearing on the La Jornada website. I had it translated to supplement this commentary about Jon Stewart's recent interview of Fox.

Ex-president Vicente Fox yesterday exploded during an interview [literally he “thundered the interview”] with a journalist from Channel 52 of the Telemundo network, when the interviewer inquired about the properties of Marta Sahagun, and in particular about the La Estancia ranch, located in the state of Guanajuato.
  Fox Quesada [his full name] lost his composure, branding the reporter, Ruben Luengas a liar and a slanderer, challenging him to investigate and demonstrate the supposed property of Sahagun.
 
In this part of the interview, the ex-leader put a stop to every effort of his interviewer to question him about the documents from the public registry about the Guanajuato property about the authentic owners of La Estancia.  At this point, Fox launched a series of accusations and interrupted every effort to pose the question.
   
The journalist exclaimed, “You want an easy little interview.”  [literally, “smooth little”]

The verbal interchange lasted some three minutes, after which Fox called the interview to an end, and before getting up from his seat, he extended his hand to Luengas, saying, “Friends as always.”

What follows is an excerpt of the interview. (The video can be viewed in the Videos section of the website www.telemundo52.com .):
 
Ruben Luengas (RL): I say with the best of intentions, I read those books and I say…
   
Vicente Fox (VF): Hardly (with the best of intentions)!  Show them, show them, give them to me, give them to me (demanding that RL show him copies of those he had referred to) … No, no, no. Leave it, leave it (speaking to the people who had come with him) this will be short and after they will go on criticizing me that I didn’t give them a chance.  Two minutes more…

RL: …The documents of the registry of public property of Guanajuato say: the owners of the properties that you say are not yours, indeed are, according to this document –
 
VF: Which property?
   
RL: -- and Marta Sahagun…
   
VF: Speak clearly, which property?   
RL: La Estancia.   
VF: Marta Sahagun doesn’t have property in San Cristobal…   
RL: But that’s what the documents say, or are they false, the documents that have been published?   
VF: Ask the question properly, please.   
RL: The public registry of property in Guanajuato says, I don’t know if the document is false or not, because then I invite a lawsuit from this person…   
VF: During this time (referring to the time period referenced in the document) it wasn’t hers.  Marta Sahagun has a hectare (in La Estancia), my brother Jose has 10 hectares in La Estancia and there are other owners in La Estancia.  I challenge you not to tell lies…   
RL: That’s why I ask about it…   
VF: I challenge you to ascertain things in a direct manner…   
RL: But the document from the public registry of property says yes, it is yours…   
VF: Clearly, I have a lot of properties.  RL: You denied it, you said it wasn’t yours.  You said that those ranches weren’t yours.   
VF: Don’t you have any properties?
RL: Yes, I do have some.   
VF: How good, how good that you are doing well. I will return to see how you say to all Mexicans what I have there, and if not, I will have to call you a liar and a slanderer.   
RL: I am not accusing you…   
VF: You are, you are accusing me in front …   
RL: Excuse me, I am not accusing you.  VF: That’s the classic…   
RL: I am asking you to answer me. You want an easy little interview. [literally, “smooth little”]
VF: You are a bad interviewer. Excuse me, and hopefully you will throw out your interview. 

RL: Clearly. 

VF: You are lying. 

RL: I am asking about people who have accused you – 

VF: You said that Marta was the owner but she’s not… 

RL: That’s what the titles to the property say. 

Off-camera voice (in English): We have to go. 

RL: I am not saying it, I’m saying that you should respond because it says it there. 

VF: You’re lying… 

RL: Who, me? I’ll say it to your face: you are accusing me of something false.  I am not accusing you. You are accusing me.
   Before Fox gets up from his seat, he extends his hand to the journalist and says: “Friends like always, old pal [literally, “little old man” but not normally that pejorative], and don’t use the time of your people, your clients, in this way, to mislead.”
  RL: And you shouldn’t use the country to avoid responding to the questions that I am asking.
VF: Good day.
  RL: Thank you.
   VF: Thank you. (While Fox’s microphone is being disconnected, he argues with the reporter who, from his seat, counters by insisting that he is just asking questions about what the documents say.) You are a vulgar person.
   RL: That’s good sir, have a good day.
   VF: Goodbye. (Fox leaves the set. A person from the staff thanks him for his presence and he answers also with a thank you.) “I don’t know why they brought me to this,” he says before leaving.

 A big thank you to Michael Staudenmaier for offering to translate this. --AB

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