Cuban Journalist José Bodes Gómez Dies

September 30, 2024

Prensa Latina news agency mourned the death of prominent journalist José Bodes Gómez, one of the most devoted representatives of the Cuban journalism profession.

Bodes Gómez, born in 1935, began his career in journalism in the mid-1950s, writing film reviews for the Diario Nacional de La Habana, where he worked as an editor and headline writer, covering the night shift, from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

After 1959, he fully immersed himself in journalism and in December of that same year joined the Agencia Informativa Latinoamericana as a night editor.

There he had the opportunity to meet Prensa Latina's first director, Jorge Ricardo Masetti, whom he considered a living legend for having been in the Sierra Maestra and having interviewed Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

His professional record was marked by numerous experiences as a correspondent in Chile, Russia, and Argentina, where his life was sometimes in danger due to complicated political situations, and his work was crucial in reporting to Havana what was happening in the region.

Precisely in Buenos Aires, Bodes Gómez personally experienced the increase in hostility toward the Cuban Embassy and Cuban citizens following the 1976 military coup.

"They put 24-hour surveillance on me wherever I went in Buenos Aires. If I visited a friendly family, after I left police agents would interrogate them. My wife and children had to return to Cuba because of the danger we Cubans faced," he confessed in an interview.

Despite the dangers, his commitment to Prensa Latina did not allow him to give in, and he only left Argentina in December 1977, when his replacement was granted a visa.

Another journalism episode he especially remembered was his coverage in 1979 of the United Nations General Assembly session, in which Fidel Castro spoke as president of Cuba and of the Non-Aligned Movement.

"When I arrived at the press room, Fidel had not yet finished his speech and I was greatly impressed by the attention, I can say unanimous, with which journalists from many media outlets around the world listened to our Commander in Chief," he noted.

In addition to his exceptional work in journalism, Bodes Gómez is considered a teacher of generations at Prensa Latina. Until his death, the agency's most senior journalist continued passing on his knowledge to younger staff.

He received several distinctions and also published various books, including Desafío a la desinformación, Mate y ron, and El estilo cablegráfico, the latter essential for journalism students.