By Juan Montoya
We have now gotten used to have some leading man or starlet from a Mexican novela series in the Televisa stable be named as Mr. Amigo.
This year, the selection by the Mr. Amigo selection committee threw in a different wrinkle. Instead of having a novela heart throb, we now have an executive of the Mexican broadcast company, Fernando Landeros, founder and president of the Telethon Foundation of Mexico, named Mr. Amigo 2016.
Landeros held the first “Teleton Mexico” in 1997.
That fundraising event is produced by Televisa and administered by the Telethon Foundation.
Its aims are to raise money for the construction and maintenance of Child Rehabilitation Centers to treat children and youth with disabilities, cancer and autism (CRIT, in Spanish). The foundation currently has 22 rehabilitation centers.
No sooner was Landeros named the new Mr. Amigo and announced in Mexico City with a stellar cast made up of dignitaries and elected officials from Brownsville and Matamoros, than the questions began.
"Who's this person?," asked one commenter.
"Well, he is the chairman of the Teleton foundation in Mexico. Yes, the same one closely associated with Televisa and been rumored in hot water with Secretaria de Credito Publico the IRS counterpart in Mexico. Teleton has been forced to close and cut short operations in Mexico because the people doesn't believe in this foundation."
And the criticism doesn't stop there. Even the current Mr. Amigo president – Ricardo Garza – was game for scrutiny.
"Richard Garza Mr. Amigo President is in hot water with the IRS. He owes more than $600,000 he has opened many clinics around the valley borrowing money from medical professionals and government funds just to close them when his lavish life style dries out the loans or grants," the accusers said.
Among other things, Garza was said to have been evicted for non payment of in Port Isabel, that the Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts had him resigned from his position, as had the San Benito ISD.
According to the Mr. Amigo Association, Mr. Amigo must be someone who "promotes the improvement of quality of life in the Hispanic community and serves as a role model for citizens of Mexico and the United States."
He or she must be a Mexican citizen who has contributed to “friendship and understanding” between the two countries, and exemplifies high standards and has excelled in his or her professional life.
Monday’s announcement at Texas Southmost College ITEC was held in concert with an announcement in Mexico City at which Landeros was present along with Brownsville city officials.Present at the Mexico City function was the mayor and federal representative from Matamoros as well as city commissioners Cesar de Leon and Ricardo Longoria. City manager Charlie Cabler – who thankfully did not speak in Spanish – was also present.
Lately, it seems that Longoria has been given a wide latitude to stay away from his job at the Brownsville Independent School District with jaunts to Sintra, Portugal last month and now to Mexico City where the former Spanish teacher tried out his best Spanish.
To his credit, de Leon took the opportunity to invite Landeros to open up a CRIT clinic in the Rio Grande Valley.
The first Mr. Amigo celebration was held in 1964 and now takes place every year during Charro Days at the end of February.
The first Mr. Amigo was former Mexican president Miguel Aleman. Other honorees have included Mario “Cantinflas” Moreno, Vicente Fernandez, Raul Velasco, Lola Beltran, Tito Gulzar, Juan Gabriel, Lucia Mendez, Lucha Villa, Armando Manzanero, Jose Jose, Angelica Vale and Arath de la Torre.