Actor Carlos Villagrán, known for the role of Quico in the Mexican television series Chaves, has faced widespread criticism on social media after he was hired by the US Embassy in Mexico to star in a campaign against illegal immigration. The actor appears in videos in which he tries to raise awareness of the problem and discourage Latin Americans from crossing the border.
In one of the videos released by the embassy on September 28, he calls for people to only immigrate to the United States legally. The campaign is an attempt by the US government to reduce the high number of illegal immigrants at the Mexican border.
“Hello friends. First of all: Shut up, shut up, shut up, you’re driving me crazy! I have to tell you something very important: Do not cross the border of the United States, because your father, your mother, your uncle, your dog, your cat, your parakeet, everyone could be in danger. The best thing is to cross the border legally. Come on. If you do that (cross legally), then I will like you,” he tells Villagrán in the video.
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Reaction on social media was negative, especially from Mexicans, who described him as insensitive to the economic and political problems faced by those who choose to migrate, including illegally. It was also observed that the artist really fit into the role as Quico is known as a spoiled boy who is unaware of the problems of his poor neighbors.
Video against “coyotes”
In another video posted by the embassy days earlier, the character Quico warns about the dangers of trusting coyotes human traffickers responsible for coordinating illegal travel across the border. He simulates a toy car accident and says, “Coyote bullshit will always fail you.”
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Other controversies
This is not the first controversy involving Carlos. In 2020, when the pandemic was at its peak and there was still no effective medicine, the actor told Mexican TV show Sale el Sol that Covid19 was “a mistake.”
“For me, Covid19 is a mistake. There is no Covid19. As soon as we stay at home, they will start deploying antennas for 5G, connected to thousands of antennas in universities, schools and everywhere and also to shortrange satellites, more than 6,000 satellites. They want to build a network so that they can control the socalled world population by 2030.” “It’s a Masonic cult, and the one who is behind all this is Bill Gates, and there are a lot of people behind him,” he added.
*Intern led by Pedro Grigori