Mexican actor Humberto Busto enters the head of a cannibal in podcast

Monica Rubalcava Mexico City, 15 Mar Mexican actor Humberto Busto entered the head of a criminal in the podcast “Gumaro de Dios, the Cannibal”, a work based on Alejandro Almazán's research that tells the tragic story of a criminal in a world of poverty, violence and machismo, and at the same time reflects on journalistic work. “It's a very sad story because although the fact of cannibalism and the murder he committed (Gumaro) of his partner, and the devouring of certain organs of his body, is obviously a crime (...) behind that there is a juncture of situations that he experienced in childhood that make you think about the conditions in which many of the mexicanos”, tells the actor this Tuesday in an interview with Efe. The name of Gumaro de Dios transcended in 2004 when the existence of the so-called Caribbean Cannibal was made public. The atrocious story of a young man in his twenties who devoured his romantic partner and horrified the population, creating a legend. At that time, the journalist Almazán decided to travel to the prison where Gumaro was being held to interview him and try to understand where the heinous actions he had committed came from and to be able to tell his story. Without intending to justify it, for Humberto, three fundamental points must be taken into account in order to understand the case of Gumaro. “The economic conditions of living in absolute poverty, the failure to discern and identify a case of latent schizophrenia since before it became a tragedy like this, and a macho environment that forced him to join the military and have to fight instead of assuming his own homosexual identity,” he replies. That is why throughout history, reflections are woven, both on journalistic ethics made by Almazán, and social ones in general that make the case not remain an isolated event of spontaneous generation. “With Alejandro I was talking about the end of the series, we wondered what was the final image we wanted to leave of him? If that of a higher moral prosecution for such a horrendous action or to give it greater dignity and dimension because many of those things would not have been done if someone had lent their hand”, says the actor. THE PLEASURE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION From Busto's point of view, there is currently a fascination “with stories that reveal the human condition” and he considers the series “Gumaro of God, the Cannibal” as an example of this. “As an actor I think there is always a pleasure in characters that border on madness because you can play with them in various ways. I always find it exciting to discover how the human psyche can be in absolute contradiction and fighting with its demons,” he says. Among the strongest reflections he came to from this project is the realization that “we all do things for an internal reason and for specific circumstances”. Finding these reasons is something that moves him as an actor, because it brings him closer to the reason for existing of every human being and helps him broaden “the vision” that one has of people. He also believes that showing stories like Gumaro's helps to better understand the vices of society in order to “continue fighting for the values and rights that must be protected in the country,” he says. AUDIBLE TECHNOLOGY The podcast, which premiered on Tuesday by Podimo, and which will keep a new chapter weekly, is recorded under binaural technology that allows viewers to have the perception that sound is moving. This effect makes the podcast experience “more theatrical than radio”, says Busto. For his part, Humberto is waiting for the premiere of the Netflix series, “Where There Was Fire”, Lorena Padilla's debut feature called “Martínez” and is still preparing for “Bisonte”, his first feature film as a director. CHIEF mrl/mqb/rrt (photo) (video)