Arleen Rodríguez Derivet, National Journalism Prize José Martí 2024

February 23, 2024

The jury of the National Journalism Prize José Martí for lifetime achievement, corresponding to the year 2024 —composed of the 16 journalists whose signatures appear below in this statement—, reviewed the files of the 31 candidates proposed by an equal number of base delegations of the Union of Journalists of Cuba, and after the debate established by the regulations for this process, which presented the professional trajectory of the proposed colleagues, concluded its deliberations recognizing that the following merits the highest distinction of the profession:

A graduate of the University of Oriente, she completed her social service as a correspondent for the Juventud Rebelde newspaper in her native province of Guantánamo between 1982 and 1986. In an ascending trajectory, in 1987 she held the position of Head of the Economic Team at the newspaper. Subsequently, in 1989 she became its Editorial Sub-Director and later Director from 1993 to 1997. There she founded and directed the weekly "Opciones" and "Periolibros" with UNESCO.

In 1993 she received the National Journalism Prize for Work of the Year for her coverage as special correspondent to the II Ibero-American Summit in Madrid and her exclusive interviews with several leaders of the Revolution.

From 1998 to 2002 she worked at Radio Rebelde as an editorial commentator and host of "Haciendo Radio," a period in which the program won consecutive awards at the National Radio Festival. From 1999 onwards she combined that work with her role as director and editor of the Tricontinental magazine of OSPAAAL. From these positions, she began to collaborate as a panelist on the Round Table founded by Fidel on December 16, 1999, which she became a regular member of in 2005.

In 2002 she creates, writes and hosts the program "Una Luz en lo Oscuro," to publicize the cause of the Five Cuban Heroes imprisoned by the empire, a program that won the Special Prize of the Radio Festival and the Prize of Dignity for several years.

Since 2000 she has been an alternate host of the Round Table, where she has promoted editorial lines for debate and education in values, such as the series "En Persona," featuring Heroes of the Republic of Cuba.

Her work is responsible for spaces dedicated to the dissemination of documentaries such as the year-long broadcast of a critical selection of Santiago Álvarez's work on the occasion of his centennial, and where dozens of Cuban and foreign documentaries have premiered.

From 2005 and for nearly ten years she was part of the script and hosting of the International Round Table for Telesur, from which she interviewed several presidents, foreign ministers and other Latin American and Caribbean leaders, such as Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Nicolás Maduro, Álvaro Colón, Leonel Fernández, David Choquehuanca, Shafik Handal, Piedad Córdoba and Patricia Rodas.

She has also interviewed political leaders from countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Angola and the United States (James Carter) and dozens of intellectuals and academics from around the world such as Noam Chomsky, Samir Amin, Ignacio Ramonet and Tariq Ali.

In 2006 she made the documentary "Los afortunados entrevistadores de Fidel," which would become a small book of the same name, which in 2008 received the National Library award as the most-read non-fiction publication in the country's library network.

She is co-screenwriter with Isabel Santos of the multi-awarded documentary "Viaje al país que ya no existe," about the reality of Vietnam in two time periods.

During the pandemic she developed the series En Zona Roja and En Zona Blanca, through which she connected doctors of the Henry Reeve with their families in Cuba and interviewed the main officials responsible for medical protocols in the fight against COVID 19.

Following the events of November 27, 2020, she initiated together with other colleagues, the segment "Chapeando" to debunk fake news, work that she alternates with the editorial sub-direction of the Round Table and journalistic coverage of Cuban current events and President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Her work is a journey of impact and transcendence through the Cuban reality she has lived. Her ability to turn journalism into a cause is today more necessary than ever to recover its original meaning, in a world distinguished by the precariousness of the profession. Her formative vocation has accompanied several generations who feel her close and accessible.

We owe to her pen many of the vivid memories of her connection with Fidel, the deep and emotional reports from early mornings, the travels, the closeness with the people of Cuba and with the poor of the earth; in that mystique that always accompanied her.

From her commitment to service to the Homeland she bequeaths us a narrative that is part of the best of Cuban journalism of the Revolution and of all times, as an ethical and intellectual legacy.

From her polemical temperament and deep Guantanamo roots she delivers to us audacity, courage, good humor and free and sensitive conversation for journalism.

And because as the emblematic Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski said: 'To be a good journalist you have to be a good person.'

Based on these arguments, our jury awards the National Journalism Prize José Martí for lifetime achievement, corresponding to the year 2023 to the journalist ARLEEN RODRÍGUEZ DERIVET

In Havana, on the 23rd day of the month of February of the year 2024, we sign:

Magali García More. PNPJM (President of the jury)