Ernesto Vera Méndez

Distinguished Cuban journalist, director of the newspapers La Calle and La Tarde. Founder of the newspaper Granma, president of the Union of Journalists of Cuba and honorary president of the International Organization of Journalists and the Latin American Federation of Journalists (FELAP). Director of the Regional Office of the IOJ for Latin America. International Prize of the IOJ in 1983. Recipient of several orders and distinctions. Prize of Dignity, from the UPEC. Born on July 29, 1929 in Sagua la Grande, former province of Las Villas, Cuba. It was in the years 1955-1956 when he joined the Movement of July 26 (M-26-7). It was there where he began to work in the revolutionary clandestine press in the editing and distribution of the newspapers Revolución and Vanguardia Obrera. When the printing press where Revolución was published clandestinely was discovered, he was arrested from March to July 1957. He was taken to the Vivac, where those pending sanctions were admitted. His conditional freedom came on the fifth day, he was not imprisoned for long. When he left, he joined the revolutionary struggle in the press sphere. He was virtually vice-director of the newspaper Revolución, overseeing its publication until 1960, when he assumed the position of director of La Calle, founded in 1955 by Luis Orlando Rodríguez, who then provided his pages to comrade Fidel so he could write political articles. Months later the tyranny closed it in a raid where police broke all the machines. The publication of this newspaper resumed due to its great importance and in 1962 it merged with Prensa Libre and Combate, all organs of the Revolution. In this process the newspaper La Tarde was born, of which he was director. This was the only evening newspaper and was published from 1962 until 1965 when it merged with the weekly Mella and Juventud Rebelde emerged. After the revolutionary triumph, he held important responsibilities in the press, as director of the newspaper La Calle, first and then of La Tarde, vice-director of the newspaper Revolución, founder of the newspaper Granma in 1965, of which he became sub-director. He was a founder of the Communist Party of Cuba. When the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC) was created, on July 15, 1963, he held the position of vice-president. In 1966, after presenting the report of the Second Congress of the UPEC, he was elected president, a position he held until 1986, when he went on to preside over the Latin American Federation of Journalists (FELAP), an organization of which he was also declared Honorary President. For years he maintained his presence as a professor in the classrooms of both the University of Havana and the International Institute of Journalism José Martí, which was founded during his tenure in the UPEC, as a flagship center for education and professional development of Cuban journalists and from several countries, with the initial support of the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ). In the latter, he assumed one of the vice-presidencies and served as director of the Regional Office for Latin America, based in Mexico. He supported the participation of the UPEC in the struggles for a new world order of communication and information, in the midst of an ideological confrontation of a global character and the overwhelming influence of multinational corporations and their satellite organizations. He encouraged the creation and promotion of the publishing house of Cuban journalists, Editorial Pablo de la Torriente Brau, founded in 1986, designed to publish texts supporting the training and professional development of the sector, and to serve as economic support for the UPEC. He remained closely linked to journalism, journalists and their organizations, participating in Congresses, seminars, professional development activities and in the writing of articles for the press and papers, as well as in the dissemination of newsletters and the exchange of information using computing and computer networks. He was the author of several titles related to the press and journalism. He died on January 10, 2016 in Havana, Cuba, at the age of 86 and a victim of cancer. Recognition In 1999, on the occasion of the VII Congress of the UPEC, he was awarded the National Prize for Journalism José Martí for his lifetime work, the highest award a journalist can receive. Prize of Dignity granted by the UPEC. Periódico Patria Prize. International Prize for Journalism IOJ (1983). Julius Fucik Medal. Distinctions Félix Elmuza and Raúl Gómez García. Medal of combatant of the clandestine struggle. Replica of the machete of Generalísimo Máximo Gómez. Medal of literacy.