Paul Vilouta He honors his profession by working tirelessly. His weekly days begin at 6 am on Radio La Red, continue on América Noticias at noon and then on the A24 newscast in the afternoon.
News: How was your love for journalism born?
Paul Vilouta: I believe that we all come to fulfill a role, a vocation. I always felt that need to read, interpret and that is how my profession was born.
News: In view of the World Cup, how do you see the public and media exposure that Rodrigo De Paul is having due to his relationship with Tini Stoessell and that would have raised a warning from Lionel Messi?
Vilouta: Players today are very professional and know how to manage, in the vast majority of cases, the personal with the professional. Rodrigo has a huge chance to play in a World Cup that could be a consecration in his career and he is not going to waste it. And Tini is a star who also knows what it means to succeed. The Messi thing is incredible, number one in the world, a dream family, low profile, educated and located, it is not bad that he advises, but De Paul is not in danger.
News: How did your relationship with Maradona begin?
Vilouta: With Diego it was kind of magical, in a note where I was the number 1000 of a sports team, I asked him a question on the radio and when he answered he said: “Yes, Paulo”. Diego had me on his radar. Later I grew up and an affectionate bond was created.
News: What did you feel every time he called you on your birthday?
Vilouta: For 10 years he greeted me on my birthday, which is October 29. And I congratulated him a day later, the 30th, which was his. The first time he called me I cut him off because I thought he was one of the radio comedians. He called me Coppola to tell me that he was cutting Diego off.
News: What topics were they talking about?
Vilouta: We had a great affection for each other. We talked about Boca, about Bilardo, he asked me if they were paying me for my work, and many times for political issues when he saw me in “Intratables” and I criticized one of his friends. I could call you at any time because I saw and heard everything.
News: How are you coping with the loss of your mother?
Vilouta: I’m taking my mom’s thing because everyone tells me “she died sleeping”, and one feels peace, but it also generates sadness because one is not prepared. I finished 10 years of Intratables on May 5 and she died on the 6. That last night, after the show, she left me a delicious WhatsApp where she told me that she was proud of me and that she loved me very much. I think without knowing it she was saying goodbye. I have it to the message but I didn’t dare to listen to it again. She was a great mother and I think I was a great son. Nice life partners. It makes me very sad and nostalgic. It is the law of life but it hurts a lot.
News: Who contains it?
Vilouta: I am strong, I give a lot and it is difficult for me to receive, but I am lucky to be loved. When my mom happened, I left my cell phone and when I picked it up I had 715 WhatsApp messages. People on the street hugged me. And my family who lives in the United States, my sister, my brother-in-law and my three nephews, put together a chat called: “We are not 5, we are 6.”
News: How are you in health?
Vilouta: Good. Marcela Tauro recommended me to go to Dr. Absi who is a nutritionist. There, in another office, was Dr. Acame who is a cardiologist and told me to do a check-up. I did it and he saved me because he had a very clogged artery and we managed to put in a stent without reaching an infarction and damaging the heart. Everything went perfect and except for the fatigue, the rest is all good.
News: How is your life behind closed doors?
Vilouta: It is very calm, I enjoy everything and I love that, after 30 years of working weekends for football, I am now free on Saturdays and Sundays. I don’t like to fill myself with plans, I live happily and do what gives me pleasure. When you have a public job, the only private thing is life at home, then everything else is shared with many people you don’t know but who know you.
News: What pleasures do you enjoy?
Vilouta: I enjoy doing nothing, reading, going for a walk, sleeping, my friends, I love the sun, the sea, simple things. And obviously, from my people, those who love me and those I love.
News: How do you handle criticism internally?
Vilouta: When I started “Intratables” I was very attentive to criticism, until one day Liliana Parodi, who was our manager in America, told me: “Stop reading the networks and think quietly.” I have a good street, people respect me, treat me well. Today I do not give a ball neither to criticism nor to praise, I always give my opinion and I love doing it.
News: Did you expect to be the titular host of “Intratables” at some point?
Vilouta: I felt that it could touch me because I always knew the formula of “Intratables” from the first day and I learned a lot from Santiago Del Moro. I drove it a thousand times but I was always the substitute. I never felt the panel as something minor, that program was a hinge in my career and in my life. Every time I’ve driven it I’ve enjoyed it and while I was never the starter, I feel like I did well. and I also had the honor of closing the 10-year cycle on May 5.
News: What did you feel every time you stayed on the show for a few days and then other figures were called to relaunch the program?
Vilouta: EI know I always knew someone else was coming. I took it naturally, I did it and I had the peace of mind that they told me I did it with the DNA of “Intratables” and it measured well and sold commercially. So it was all growth and profit for me.
News: Throughout your career, have you had to deal with difficult superiors?
Vilouta: I worked with many bravos, but I always knew how to handle the moods of those above. And they always respected me, they made me grow. I understood that they were number 1 and I was number 2. I was at Portales de Olmedo for many years and that allowed me to grow and be where I am. I worked with Niembro, Araujo, Mirtha Legrand on the radio, Del Moro, Closs, Mónica Gutiérrez, Paenza, Lucho Avilés, Doman, Fantino, among others.
News: What is for you the limit between journalistic ethics and information?
Vilouta: I was always more of an opinion than of having firsts, but I am lucky that I have been here for years and I have a lot of information. Having those sources are super checked things. I hate when someone tells me: “I saw it on Twitter”, and that is a holy word. Those of us who grew up journalistically without networks are more to check, which for me is the basis of journalism.
News: You filed a complaint against Giselle Rímolo because she prescribed false medication when you treated her. What was that?
Vilouta: I will be one of the few patients of this delinquent who maintained her complaint. Most people settled money and lowered the claim. They robbed a lot of people. She is a chanta that played the doctor. Mine came to nothing, only the satisfaction of closing that circus, jail for that cynic and the fall of that trout empire. She got out of jail, I don’t know anything about his life, but she must still have a lot of money for sure. They scammed a lot, God help her.
News: How is your relationship with Alberto Fernández?
Vilouta: The normal relationship, if I whatsapp him, he answers me, it is very correct. I don’t bother unless it’s something very important. You must be under a lot of pressure and tension.
News: What analysis do you make of the current political and economic situation in our country?
Vilouta: It worries me because with high inflation shooting to the highest, we never leave. I see that what were normal expenses today are dramatic: renewing a lease, changing the tire of a car, a home repair, changing a cell phone and obviously the supermarket, the greengrocer and the pharmacy. With less than 100,000 pesos you are poor and a retiree earns 37,000. There will be some time to do serious reforms, not permanent patches.
News: Do you see any solution in this regard?
Vilouta: I see the solution far away, the Argentine governments take turns failing and there is a lack of balls to make serious reforms. And we, society, have plenty of patience to bank so much disorder.
