(CNN Spanish) -
Daniel Samper Ospina has shown that YouTube is not the exclusive domain of the new generations.
At 45, the Colombian journalist and writer has almost 800,000 followers on his channel “Hola soy Danny”.
With large doses of humor and a marked critical sense, he analyzes the politics of his country and interacts with personalities and officials.
Samper Ospina belongs to a family of famous intellectuals, which includes former president Ernesto Samper Pizano and his father, the prominent journalist Daniel Samper Pizano.
In an interview "In Dialogue with Longobardi" he told how it was to become a 'youtuber' after 40, how he achieved the participation of former president Juan Manuel Santos on his channel and why he believes that a similar report with the current one would not be possible at the moment President, Iván Duque.
He also analyzed the protests that began on April 28 in Colombia and stressed that there is "complete anarchy" on the border with Venezuela.
Marcelo Longobardi: You are a writer, journalist and also a 'youtuber', how was that process?
Daniel Samper Ospina:
My work life had the need to adapt to the new formats in 2016, when Germán Garmendia came to Colombia. At the Book Fair that year I was presenting a book and so was he. It caught my attention that the fairgrounds were bursting and then I discovered what a 'youtuber' was and everything that was behind them. At that time I was on the Titanic as a print media journalist, I felt on the road to the iceberg. How to continue doing journalism in this era? So, after seeing Garmendia and others, I realized that I had to go down that line. I decided to do a kind of parody and become a 40-year-old 'youtuber', making videos with his style, but infiltrating messages of political satire. So I managed to translate the content into digital format and make videos a little less parodic,but always satirical and critical of the Colombian political class.
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Marcelo Longobardi: Did you find a relationship between being a 'youtuber' at your age and selling more books?
Daniel Samper Ospina:
Totally, it completely changed the general rhythm of my working life, because as a result of the channel I ended up doing a stand up comedy play on the recent history of Colombia and I was on stage for about 150 performances.
Now I am preparing another.
So, of course, I sold many more books, I forced myself to find new formats to do satire journalism.
Those formats were very unknown to me.
But hey, I think that's the spirit you have to have, find opportunities instead of fighting against the times and thinking that all the past was better.
Marcelo Longobardi: In many places it had an impact that you managed to turn Juan Manuel Santos, when he was still president, into a 'youtuber' for a day.
Daniel Samper Ospina:
Yes, he was acting president and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
A very formal guy, in a tie, etcetera.
And I think that's why the video attracted a lot of attention.
I proposed that when he left power, unlike what had happened with Uribe, he no longer dedicate himself to politics, but that we find him a new job as a 'youtuber' and, even for a while, I succeeded.
Marcelo Longobardi: Would that be possible with President Iván Duque?
Daniel Samper Ospina:
I had Duque before he was president.
As a result of a tax reform in which he was in favor of soda companies not paying taxes, I made him participate in a blind tasting of drinks, a challenge that was fashionable (…) Today I don't think it's possible .
I think that he is more and more kidnapped by himself, in his cabin, not knowing much about what is going on.
In fact, they still hold him in the face that during the campaign he played with a ball, played the guitar and danced, so he became a kind of 'showman' at that time.
Contrasting with the tragedy of now, it impresses.
Social tension in Colombia and the link with Venezuela
Samper Ospina: Duque is kidnapped himself 1:15
Marcelo Longobardi: How to understand what is happening in Colombia today?
Daniel Samper Ospina: We are going
through very critical moments, very difficult.
We are in the middle of a very complicated national strike, there has been a lot of police repression, a boiling in the street that had been cooking for years.
And the pandemic evidently made social inequalities almost unsustainable.
The government fueled him with the tax reform bill, which contained taxes that seemed like black humor, because at a time like this, it included taxing funeral services.
There is police violence, violation of human rights and also vandalism that delegitimizes the protest.
Marcelo Longobardi: How is this moment, but also the peace process, connected with what is happening with the confrontations on the border between Venezuela and Colombia?
Daniel Samper Ospina:
The border is a complete anarchy.
Maduro has made Venezuela a regrettable thing.
One cannot believe that such a wonder of a country is prostrate because of a tyrant.
Iván Duque decided not to have relations with the Venezuelan president.
That is quite questionable, because I believe that you have to manage Maduro.
We have a very long border and we have to manage it.
You don't have to be a friend of Maduro, of course not.
But you have to know how to carry the link.
(…) No one has been more of a promoter of the right in Latin America than Maduro.
The ghost of Castro-Chavism has served to elect all the right-wing governments in Latin America in recent years.
Colombia is obviously no exception.
Samper Ospina: Colombia-Venezuela border is anarchy 0:54
Editor's note:
The program "In dialogue with Longobardi" can be seen every Sunday at 9 pm in Miami (10 pm in Buenos Aires) on the CNN en Español screen.
In addition, their shows can be heard on various platforms.
Ivan Duque
