Photo:   Bill Hackwell

Havana, November 28 (RHC)-- The death of the prominent Cuban journalist, diplomat, radio host and professor at the University of Havana, Pedro Ernesto Martínez Pírez on Thursday, November 28th, has shaken his colleagues, friends and followers.  He was 87 years old.

During his fruitful life, Pedro worked in print, radio and television press, and news agencies.  Awarded the National José Martí Journalism Award for Life's Work (2005) and the National Radio Award (2006), Pirez dedicated himself body and soul to Radio Habana Cuba.

Pedro served as a diplomat in Ecuador and Chile between 1960 and 1964.  His work on the magazine OCLAE, the Latin American Continental Organization of Students, Juventud Rebelde, the Prensa Latina news agency and Radio Habana Cuba is unforgettable.

At the Cuban radio station that broadcasts abroad, Martínez Pirez worked since 1973 as an editor, reporter, scriptwriter, host, editor-in-chief, information director and deputy general director in charge of editorial policy.

Born in the central Cuban province of Villa Clara in February 1937, he grew up in a family that instilled in him a love for radio, his country and values ​​such as anti-racism that influenced his professional development.

An honorary member of the Guayasamín Foundation since 1994, he was a deputy to the National Assembly of People's Power (Cuban Parliament) between 1993 and 1998.  Among other recognitions, Pirez received in 1964 the Order of Merit in the Degree of Commander in Chile, the Replica of the Machete of Máximo Gómez and the Utility of Virtue recognition in 2015.

Our sincere condolences to the family and comrades of Pedro Martínez Pírez.