Oswaldo Pisfil
Correspondent of "La República" ("The Republic") of Peru
Editor of the Univisión TV Program, "Despierta América" ("Wake Up America")
HE GETS THE NEWS EVEN BEFORE THE U.S. NEWS AGENCIES
"I can say that I felt very proud to be his friend when I confirmed what was reported from his country about the lamentable facts that shook the U.S. last September. He always got the news before the news agencies. How does this happen? This is something that, up to now, I do not know… I imagine it’s a professional secret.
"I arrived from Peru some months ago with the firm intention of achieving the ‘American dream’. It took years of experience as a journalist in radio, television and print but, as it is custom in this sometimes frivolous world, I had not discovered what the word ‘friendship’ means among colleagues because, admit it or not, envy always exists among the press; the corruption, the lies, and the hunger to excel. Sometimes it doesn’t matter to us whom we step on to obtain our objectives. I know that competence is good but in excess it is always harmful, and I can attest to this because I lived those experiences in real life in my country, and so the saying, ‘no one is a prophet in his land,’ is certain. But since life is full of magic and each day surprises us with different things, a Spanish boy crossed my path, one from Santiago de Compostela to be exact, who arrived in this country with the same hunger that I had to take in the world and to live unforgettable experiences in this new phase of life. It was a huge surprise to me when, in discussing our experiences in media, the coincidences were incredible; we had done almost the same thing and on continents so different and so distant, it was as if it was somehow written that, at some moment in life, we had to meet each other and exchange professional experiences for both our sakes. I assure you that the surprises were greater as time passed and coincidences have followed since the start of our careers. It was simply mind-boggling!
"This great Spaniard, who is always willing to lend you a hand and to orient you, with the little or much that he has learned in his career, is one of the few people who always listens, who always has that word of encouragement to keep you moving forward, who discourages no one, and who can win over even the coldest people in the world. For him, nothing is impossible nor are there doors that cannot be opened. It is fascinating to arrive at places where we have not been invited and, believe it or not, we are always let in, and to arrive at places that are as unexpected and inaccessible as one can imagine… I know because I did them. He has a gift that few people have, that is of ingratiating himself to everyone. Friends with whom I work in the U.S. include actors, actresses, singers, models and TV producers who have made themselves more or less friends of Luis. To spend a day with him is to listen to his cell phone, which never stops ringing. And the weekend invitations don’t stop coming either! It is always fun to be entertained and to take in life in a very special way; that is something that I will always envy in Luis.
"His desires to do well are admirable. Make no mistake, for in this new phase of my career in television in the U.S., Luis has been my main advisor; his suggestions are fundamental in this type of experience. In fact, I always tell him that the idea to publish a book with everything that he has learned will be tremendous, successful in Spain if not in the whole world. I will always have something for which to thank him, and in my personal experience, I have the satisfaction of having known him in such a difficult and decisive moment as when I came to live in the US. With him, I learned what it is to have a true friend."
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