Did you enjoyed interviewing him?

"It's a good talker, he can be ironic, it gives you answers you can´t imagine, he´s very ironic, cynical at times, he has a double personality that some people wouldn't understand.

Basave Salinas says he would not give him his vote to govern, but admits he´s a person you can talk pleasantly with, that knows how to share a good conversation, and capable of surprising you.

"When I listen to the recordings of all the interviews, you can hear all the animals, I mean, birds, the constant sound of birds and dogs is a permanent symphony; that´s how he feels good, when he´s surrounded by his animals and that strong smell, there´s where he feels comfortable, "he said.

Passionate for his profession, the journalist says he admires him and not, since he thinks Hank is like a literary character.

"People can be evil, they can be sinister, but still they can attract to you as if they were a novel character, and he is very complete, that's what attracts me from him, but he´s not a person who seduces me as a leader I would support " he said.

He acknowledges that his scheme of values is authoritarianism, classism, that´s his vertical command line, a form of education that

"I must admit that throughout my life I´ve interviewed hundreds of politicians, and I've never found one as fascinating as a character as him," he said, "If you had put me to choose God and the Devil to interview, I would have chosen the Devil, its more interesting for me to interview the wicked.

To keep objectivity within the book´s content, Salinas did not crossed that so diffused line that sometimes gets present between journalist and source, to avoid making the reader feel the author was against or in favor of his protagonist.

"Yes I´ve tasted his Tequila in some occasion long ago, I´ve tasted hi favorite dish, Xolocaliente, but I didn´t try tiger soup, and it's interesting because I tried as far as possible to stay within the realm of journalist.

I like to make clear that his publication is not an apology, the great mistake of the critics, is to think that a narrator has to be a judge or a defense attorney; this is not the role of a reporter, but the reader´s role, and they´re the ones that must draw their conclusions.

About Hank, the reporter says he is a generous person, a task he learned from his father, the late Professor Hank Gonzalez, the best way to be on top and control those who owe him.

"And he likes to feel messianic" he says, "he eats highly gourmet or aphrodisiac dishes, but also birria or pozole seating in the middle of a marginated neighborhood, he´s the most hedonistic person I know, he´s life is governed by the principle of pleasure, is a very big eater, he eats and eats strong, very sexual, he´s someone who takes a lot of pleasure from life.

The title of "The Liturgy of the White Tiger" was due Hank´s appreciation for white tigers. Animals for "El Inge" are his doom, perhaps his only addiction of which he can´t rehabilitate from.

"White tiger was the name of the operation the U.S. government followed; white tiger was also an animal that was seized from him on Interstate 5 while he was driving his Rolls Royce. Liturgy came up since he´s a human being full of rituals, superstitions. The kind of worship that his people have for him goes far beyond the respect given to a business leader or politician.

Daniel Salinas has in mind continuing this story, from 450 pages that the book originally had, 312 were only included in the current book, not due to censorship, but for costs matters, which leads to a sequel.

andrea.garcía@sandiegored.com

Original Text : Andrea García

Translation : Daniel Blanco