In 1989, Argentine singer-songwriter Laureno Brizuela was at the height of his career when the Mexican justice system arrested and imprisoned him for tax evasion.
For nearly five months he has been locked in the middle of a major media scandal, accused of not declaring taxes on six of his concerts, while his representative, Raul Velasco Jr., the son and manager of powerful television host Raul Velasco. Administration and accounting enjoyed independence.
“He took his son out and left me on a plate,” Prizuela recalled in a recent interview with Matilde Obregon.
“They went against the son and unfortunately the father, and it's something that will never forgive him, even though it's a bad word, I'm not here to forgive anybody, but I'm never going to let that happen because he could have called me. I came from Miami and said, 'Hey, because they're chasing my son. Don't come,” he said.
“For my part, I made a deal with his son, he should have declared, I had nothing to do with it, they supported me, they made me responsible for what he did,” he added.
At that time Raul Velasco enjoyed enormous power. As the owner of Televisa's most important show, 'Simbre El Domingo', he was a benchmark of Mexican television and had the power to inspire or end artists' careers.
His closeness to Emilio Ascaraga Milmo, owner of Televisa and one of the most powerful men in Mexico at the time, gave him great power and influence.
While some of the scenes are embarrassing today, like the occasion when Thalia celebrated removing the “foul thing they gave you on the first day” or when she described it as “ugly,” many still remember the moment everyone gave up. ” and “Gorilla” to Lupe Esparza, singer of Bronco.
Prizuela did not have a good time in prison, especially in the first days when he was separated from the rest of the prison population and was described as an aggressive person.
“I remember the first audience was Pandora, it was Laura Flores, it was Olga Priskin. The Pandoras didn't last ten minutes and they all came out vomiting because of the energy you were breathing in.”
Years later, Laureano Brizuela wrote a book titled “Infamy of Power in Mexico” in which he described the injustice he experienced. After that bad experience, his career never regained the momentum it had before his arrest.
Finally, after a long trial, he was able to prove his innocence. “I have proven in six years of trial that I am innocent, innocent and not guilty of any crime.”
He returned to the prison only once to fulfill his promise to his fellow inmates to give a concert to all the inmates.