José R. Fernández Vega

Born into a humble family from Gibara in 1947, he began working at age 9 as an apprentice on a part-time basis at a printing press in Las Tunas, and later as an assistant and operator at two similar ones in Bayamo. Simultaneously, he studied in the evening session of primary school through third grade and in night courses from fourth grade through basic secondary education in Bayamo. And in a self-taught manner, through free examinations he completed pre-university courses in Santiago de Cuba. In 1966 he enrolls in a directed course at the School of Letters of the University of Oriente. Two years later the Party sends him to the journalism course at its National School, Ñico López. In 1970 he goes to the University of Havana to complete his studies for a degree in Journalism, and graduates as top student of his class.

At the triumph of the Revolution he was 12 years old. He quickly integrates and becomes part of the Youth Patrols. He moves from the AJR to the UJC and is founder of the Student Militias and the Union of Secondary Students (UES) of Bayamo. Of the latter he was vice president in the then Cauto-Bayamo-Jiguaní region. In 1962 he is designated by the UJC to oversee the work of students mobilized to coffee harvesting in Felicidad de Yateras, Guantánamo. Two years later he is appointed general secretary of the UJC of that municipality. He was also secretary of the UJC committees of the School of Journalism of the University of Havana (1971) and of the newspaper Sierra Maestra (1973). In 1975 he is granted membership in the Communist Party of Cuba, and in it he performs various responsibilities.

He links to journalism from the early years of the Revolution as a youth correspondent. In 1964 the Party selects him for the first course of the Pablo de la Torriente Brau school of correspondents in Santiago de Cuba. Upon finishing, at age 17, he is assigned to the newspaper Sierra Maestra as a formalist, his first job in the sector, preceded by work experience in graphic arts.

Shortly after, on the occasion of recovery following the passage of a devastating hurricane, the direction of the same newspaper sends him to bring reports from a municipality in Bayamo, and in this way he begins his work as a reporter. Later he moves to page editor and then to editor-in-chief, while continuing to write using different genres on various topics.

Among his most important news coverage from that era, as part of a journalistic pool, was Expo'67 in Montreal, Canada, from which he makes publications in several national media outlets.

He is elected organizer of the UPEC in Oriente, in charge of structuring regional delegations, until 1968 when he is sent to the Ñico López.

As a student in Havana, he is elected president of the UPEC at the Ñico López and does teaching practice at the newspaper El Mundo, where he was editorial shift chief and as correspondent in Matanzas province for three months, without affecting academic results. During the Ten Million Ton Harvest he is assigned as reinforcement to the newspaper Sierra Maestra in the capacity of Information Chief. At the University of Havana he directs the newspaper Despegue, which circulates throughout the Colina.

A significant anecdote from his publications in this student newspaper was the critique of the Cuban feature film Pages from Martí's Diary, which prompted a debate with the president of ICAIC, Alfredo Guevara, with the happy outcome that he was granted a free pass for all cinemas in Havana, something very stimulating for a devoted film enthusiast.

Upon concluding his journalism studies in 1972, he receives from Ernesto Vera various job proposals, all in Havana, including the ideological page of Granma and a request from the Party's Revolutionary Orientation Commission (COR). However, he decides to request with the Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida Bosque, designated as delegate of the Political Bureau in Oriente, to be placed again in the newspaper Sierra Maestra. There he was editorial subdirector, while personally covering the activities prioritized by the maximum political leadership in the territory, such as internal party processes, among others.

He also covers journalism coverage of visits by important foreign personalities. Thus, by indication of Chancellor Raúl Roa, he interviews Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme at the Siboney farm.

On the occasion of the V Summit of the MNOAL in Algeria, he is designated to be part of the Prensa Latina press team, and one of his chronicles heads the front page of Granma by recreating the atmosphere in Algiers at the start of the event. As the most significant aspect of that work, the Chancellor of Dignity personally instructs him to interview Egyptian leader Muammar el-Gaddafi, who agreed and told him ahead of time that he would take a positive stance toward Cuba. The work was left in the hands of Roa, who stated that it turned out very timely and effective.

After the First Party Congress, he is designated as director of Sierra Maestra, but when the new eastern provinces are created, Commander Almeida asks him to found, from scratch, the newspaper La Demajagua in Granma, a task that required dedication and remarkable effort, supported by his experience in graphic arts and journalism. He serves as its director for five years, after the setup and implementation is completed in the shortest time possible. Also, while continuing to practice journalism at the same time, he manages to interview Fidel at Alto del Naranjo, Sierra Maestra, and asks him what Granma province should do to earn the headquarters for a July 26th celebration. This leads the Commander in Chief to direct the tasks that the province should focus on to hold the national event there the following year 1982, as indeed occurred.

In 1981 he is promoted to head of the Department of Revolutionary Orientation (DOR) of the Party in Granma province.

During this stage, the DOR of the Central Committee entrusts him with directing the completion of the setup of the newspaper 5 de Septiembre in Cienfuegos province. He participates in organizing the event for the 30th anniversary of the meeting of Fidel and Raúl at Cinco Palmas, Sierra Maestra, with both present. He is also designated as investor in the new building of the newspaper La Demajagua, inaugurated by Fidel.

Immediately after Cuban collaboration with the new progressive government of Suriname begins, he is designated by the Party's Central Committee to fulfill an internationalist mission (1981-82) as advisor to that country's president for the organization of information as a mechanism for popular mobilization, a task he completes satisfactorily.

Taking into account his career as a journalist and experience as a press executive, he is promoted to official of the Central Committee in 1985. In these functions he serves as chief of the Analysis Section and later successively in attention to written press, national information, and in particular journalistic coverage of the Commander in Chief's activities, a task in which a high level of organization and coordination was achieved with the different national media, personal security and Fidel himself, who more than once expressed satisfaction with the work of the team of journalists.

After the country entered the Special Period, he had important responsibilities in advising decisions adopted regarding the use of available critical paper reserves, as well as in the design and coordination of adjustments in the media that continued to be published, even with severe restrictions on format and pagination, and distribution in Radio and other functions for journalists who had to be relocated. He was also in charge of press coverage of international events in different countries.

In 1996 he is requested by comrade José Ramón Machado Ventura as his Chief of Staff, until in 1998, 24 years ago, he is designated as director of Bohemia.

Together with the magazine's staff, he has managed to maintain it in prominent positions in the UPEC competition, including festivals of the written press. For 19 consecutive years it has been National Vanguard of the Culture Union. It maintains positive reception among its readers. He recovered investigative journalism with the Section In Cuba and opinion pages, while making extraordinary and special editions associated with the most relevant national events and commemorations, a distinctive mark of the publication. The digital edition has also developed, which reached greater visibility and visits (two million last year) and currently executes a coordinated program with the UPEC to advance a new concept of design and content with greater deployment in digital networks.

In the last three years he has been proposed by the UPEC delegation of Bohemia for the José Martí Journalism Prize for lifetime achievement.

He was elected deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power in its seventh legislature (2008-2013), and served during three processes as a member of the National Electoral Commission CEN. The municipal assemblies of People's Power of Bayamo (2009) and Gibara (2018) granted him the status of Illustrious Son of the respective territories, and Gibara also granted him the city shield.

The FAR recognized him in 2018 with a replica of the machete of Generalissimo Máximo Gómez for his militant commitment to the Revolution and the defense of the Homeland. He is currently a reserve captain and has received two more distinctions from this institution.

He has also earned, among others, the distinctions Raúl Gómez García from the Culture Union (1982); September 28th from the CDR (1984); Félix Elmuza from the UPEC (1996). Also the seals for the XX anniversary of the UJC (1982); Laureate from the Culture Union (2014); and 55th anniversary of the ICRT (2018), and the commemorative medal for the 50th anniversary of the UPEC.