Aldo Isidrón del Valle

A radio man, journalist, announcer. At the CMHW radio station in Santa Clara, Cuba, he was news director, editorialist and member of the Board of Directors, he hosted opinion journalism programs, such as A Propósito, on Radio Revista Doblevé.

He was a member of the Association of Cuban Historians, making a significant contribution to national journalism with the file of Case 504 of the Court of Urgency in Santa Clara from 1950 where the accused was Fidel Castro. On that occasion he produced a radio report for which he won a Special Prize from UPEC and congratulations from the Comandante, to whom he delivered the file of the historic case.

He was part of Comandante Ernesto Guevara's press team from 1959 to 1964. He was the announcer who introduced Che at the historic peasant rally in El Pedrero, in the Escambray, in 1959. War Correspondent in the Escambray, Playa Girón and Angola, where he was director, announcer and scriptwriter.

Founder of the newspapers Revolución and Granma. From 1985 he worked full-time at Cuban Radio. He had multiple awards from Upec, Uneac, Cuban Radio, Editora Abril, Radio Prague, Radio Habana Cuba, the CTC and others.

Aldo was also National Vanguard of the Union of Workers of Culture on four occasions and Provincial Vanguard on three other occasions. Aldo Isidrón del Valle leaves several books and an enduring legacy in Cuban journalism.

Upon meeting him, the first thing one appreciated in him was an affable face, always with a broad smile showing, accompanied by simplicity and modesty, despite the considerable and great achievements he accumulated along the roads of art, which he entered when he was barely 15 years old. And what makes one admire him even more is precisely that coming from a large and humble family did not prevent him from rising from a young age and making his way with determination and talent, without ceasing to help his family.

His love for radio began right there, when he entered a radio station at that age and with great effort and determination he rose from cleaning assistant, going through various jobs and technical positions, until he received his announcer's degree at just twenty-three years old. Nothing in radio was foreign to him. The radio of that time in Cuba forced him to succeed or perish, and he knew how to rise to the challenge and demonstrate that he could handle a broadcast, operating equipment, writing a news story, hosting a program and performing as a troubadour if necessary.

His work trajectory was very broad as an announcer, editor and fundamentally in the profession that marked him forever and made him work not only in radio, but in the written press. From 1959 onwards he worked as a correspondent for the Periódico Revolución in the former province of Las Villas, among other publications, which is why he was a founder of Periódico Granma, where his reports are always of particular interest. He also collaborated prominently with the international broadcaster Radio Habana Cuba. And his work has appeared in national publications such as Revista Bohemia and the newspaper Juventud Cubana.

His academic training as a journalist began in 1958 at the Severo García Pérez Professional School of Journalism, which following instructions from the July 26 cell that he was part of, closed its doors after the April 9 Strike, an action carried out in opposition to the tyranny of Fulgencio Batista.

He graduated with a degree in Journalism from the University of Havana in 1964, which he says he can never forget since along with his degree came his first journalism prize won in a contest called Paper and Ink, convened by the Periódico Revolución.

In 1961 he was one of the correspondents who covered military actions from Playa Girón, where he was wounded. He is also part of the first defeat of Imperialism in America and as a journalist also participates in the Cleanup of bandits operation in the Escambray.

Between 1960 and 1966 he directed the Provincial Radio News through CMHW in Santa Clara. During this period he joined, in 1963, the first board in the province of Las Villas of the National Union of Journalists of Cuba.

At the CMHW radio station he made substantial contributions from the journalism desk to both the Provincial News Patria and The Informative Magazine W, a magazine that began in 1970, where the people always look forward to, among other materials, the Commentary Section A Propósito, by Aldo Isidrón del Valle. These two programs repeatedly won important awards at the Cuban National Radio Festivals.

In his long journey along the paths of radio, his presence as a journalist and announcer at the National Radio of Angola must be highlighted. The Hour broadcast in Spanish, which lasted for many years to bring encouragement to the Cuban internationalist troops fighting for the emancipation of the brotherly country. When one speaks with those soldiers, one can clearly understand what it means to them to hear the sound and love of the island nation that reaches them through a cable that distributes small speakers in their trenches, precisely at nine o'clock at night.

Aldo Isidrón is one of those anonymous protagonists who participates in this task. There he also offers his expertise as a journalist to the Periódico Verde Olivo on Internationalist Mission.

The practice of journalism served him decisively in making valuable contributions to literature, among those titles, which have the great value of testimony, where one can also see the deep perspective of the field investigative journalist, drawn from the author's own experiences, the following stand out:

Fidel Before the Moncada, published in 1980 by Editorial Unión of UNEAC, written in collaboration with the distinguished journalist Marta Rojas. A work that was revised and expanded by Aldo and his collaborators and re-edited by Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau in 2005. This book now has five editions.

In 1997 the work The Return of Che Guevara was published, about the transfer of Che's remains, The Heroic Guerrilla Fighter, and his fellow combatants, who rest in the Mausoleum bearing his name in the City of Santa Clara. This work was written by Aldo and his colleague Roberto Orihuela.

His admiration for the Guerrilla Comandante led him to write From Alta Gracia to Santa Clara, which as its title indicates speaks of Che's childhood and adolescence in Argentina and his guerrilla presence in Santa Clara. For this reason he was invited to Córdoba, Argentina, Che's birthplace, in 2002, where he presented this work.

Among other unpublished titles that he has already prepared, we look forward to his memoirs, a testimony that without a doubt, like all of this author's works, will nourish the spirituality of all those who have the pleasure of enjoying its reading.

At this time, in addition to collaborating with his CMHW radio station, he is an Associate Professor at the Central University of Santa Clara.

This is a brief summary of the work that began on a typewriter and continues in front of a computer. Aldo Isidrón del Valle, an example of a great journalist-investigator, writer and friend, who has accumulated important awards for patient work and many years dedicated to the practice of a profession that for him has no borders.

Among many honors he possesses, it is enough to mention the following:

The July 26 Prize of the Union of Journalists of Cuba.

The Distinction for National Culture.

The Machete of Generalísimo Máximo Gómez.

National Journalism Prize José Martí.

National Radio Prize, both for lifetime achievement.

And one that holds special meaning for him, that of Illustrious Son of the city that saw him born and where he resides: Santa Clara, the beautiful and promising City of Marta Abreu and Che Guevara.