It is not often that Gustavo Macalpin remains speechless; but this is what happened this Monday to the presenter of the show Citizen 2.0 from Channel 66, a television station in Mexcali, Baja California (Mexico). At one point during the show, the channel’s owner, Luis Arnoldo Cabada, burst onto the set and fired him on the air.
“I come to thank you for these six years for this intense work that you have accomplished. A cycle has ended and you have done an extraordinary job (…) Everything has a cycle in life and your cycle has arrived, it is your last day,” Cabada said with a half-smile.
Macalpin’s reaction did not seem planned in the script: “A surprise, a rather strange way of being informed. But hey: I’m very happy with you for the opportunity I’ve had over these six and a half years.
Speculation about the causes of the dismissal refers to Macalpin’s criticism of the husband of the governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Ávila, of the Morena party. Local media also report social tensions between the journalist and the company.
This dismissal caused a great media stir in Mexico, and even the country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum – also from Morena – spoke about the event. “I asked Marina [del Pilar Ávila] who was here this morning and obviously told me that he did not agree, it is obviously a decision of the director I believe of Canal 66 of Baja California, but if the reason was because I have pain talked about the governor, it’s not correct, from my point of view.”
In a video posted later, Macalpin called what the channel owner did “rude.” “Some say it’s precisely because, on yesterday’s show, I criticized the husband of the governor of Baja California. I highly doubt this is something from yesterday. I don’t think it’s a question of impulse. I think it’s something the owner of the TV station has been doing for a long time.”
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