Raquel Mayedo: the face of charisma

January 25, 2025

Raquel Mayedo's career spans from ballet in her childhood to broadcasting. Today her name is among the most popular on Cuban Television.

A graduate of Theatre Studies from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), she combines training from both academies. Her ballet skills proved valuable when she was placed in the Public Relations Department of the Theater and Dance Directorate at the Ministry of Culture.

With luck on her side, a director noticed the talent and charisma that accompanied her, which led her to the programs Joven Joven and Contacto. Currently, she hosts the programs Contra el olvido and De tarde en Casa, which this 2025 reaches its 20th year on the air.

The productions in which Mayedo appears have guaranteed audience. More than 30 years on the small screen have made her one of the role models to follow for her knowledge, culture, and the ethics with which she knows how to navigate any situation.

In 2024, "Raquelita," as the public also knows her, received the status of Artist of Merit from TVC and the distinction Plaza Distrito Cultural.

During our conversation, she recounts how she came to the media and the difficulties she has faced throughout her career.

- What did you learn from ballet? Why did you choose to study Theatre Studies?

- "Ballet has served for everything. It is the best foundation my life has; not only from the cultural and educational point of view, but also from the knowledge of good nutrition, the discipline of daily work, body care, loving theater forever... It is a career that begins from a very young age and I was lucky to have excellent teachers.

"Since in life you have to have many dreams, I decided on Theatre Studies at what was then ISA, today University of the Arts. Definitely the theater, the stage, the vocation of communicating with others, projecting myself to the infinity of being an artist was another of my dreams, which with study and perseverance I have almost achieved."

- How did you get into broadcasting?

- "Recently graduated with a degree in Theatre Studies from ISA, I began working in the Theater and Dance Directorate at the Ministry of Culture. I worked in the Dissemination and Public Relations Department, where I discovered that I could convince people to go to the theater, to buy tickets, to value the work of actors, all immersed in the marvelous 80s and 90s. I didn't express myself poorly, I managed to communicate and I said to myself: 'if I get to television, many people will follow me and my work as a broadcaster will be seen,' and that's how broadcasting and the program Joven Joven appeared."

Later Contacto welcomed me, and I remember an anecdote from it, I think the most well-known and remembered by the public: the terrible word that Spanish actor Juan Echenove let slip live and on air; the poor man, he kept repeating that expression because almost everyone says it in Cuba."

- Is that "absent-mindedness" that characterizes you real or is it your hidden weapon to capture followers?

- "Both, but I like to use it, especially because sometimes I don't want to confuse the interviewee with information that I know. However, he is the one who should express it, because it's better in his own voice. It's his time on television. I get distracted with information so that the interviewee continues or I change names of people or situations to force him to talk about some personal experience. If I ask directly, he won't answer me."

- How do you manage to show the great knowledge that the programs De tarde en Casa address?

- "It developed over time. Moreover, one cannot deny the Marxist-Leninist education I received, where there is always a criterion of inquiry, of questioning and the need to investigate the truth. That makes up my essence. When you don't agree with some element, it means informing yourself. That is where Television comes in, and it contributes to the link between the public and what is learned."

- What qualities should a good host possess?

- "Mastery of your language, wanting to communicate, passion for the profession, composure to practice it, knowing yourself very well from within and, above all, from without. Many years will pass before personal image stops being the best letter of introduction for human beings."

- According to your earlier words you were "incendiary," and now are you really a firefighter?

- "Yes, I ignited many fires with my quick and critical speech, with energetic actions at the time, and I put my chest to what was done and to the fire. Now I'm not a firefighter, I'm a parking attendant, I park my ego for a good while."