José Ignacio Rivero y Hernández ("Pepinillo" Rivero) was a

Cuban exile A Cuban exile is a person who has been exiled from Cuba. Many Cuban exiles have various differing experiences as emigrants depending on when they emigrated from Cuba, and why they emigrated. The exile of Cubans has been a dominating factor in C ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He is the grandson of Don Nicolas Rivero, who in 1895 became the director of '' Diario de la Marina,'' then the most popular newspaper in Cuba, and the son of Pepin Rivero, who took over the newspaper upon the death of Don Nicolas in 1919. After the newspaper's public battle with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, Rivero was exiled from Cuba. He is the first cousin of Felipe Rivero, the director of the Cuban Nationalist Association at the time that they were implicated in the firing of a

bazooka The Bazooka () is a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", th ...

at the

United Nations headquarters The headquarters of the United Nations (UN) is on of grounds in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It borders First Avenue (Manhattan), First Avenue to the west, 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd ...

in 1964.

Career as a journalist

In 1943, Rivero graduated with a journalism degree from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. In 1944, with the death of Rivero's father,

José Ignacio Rivero Alonso Don José Ignacio "Pepín" Rivero y Alonso was a Cuban journalist and the 14th director of ''Diario de la Marina'', which was the oldest and most popular newspaper in Cuba. He is considered to be "one of the most subtle writers of his time and on ...

, Rivero took over the management of '' Diario de la Marina'' from Ramiro Guerra, who had temporarily assumed the management of the newspaper.

Exile

After the success of the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, and a series of attacks on the headquarters of '' Diario de la Marina'', Rivero sought refuge in the Embassy of Peru. On May 10, 1960, the offices of '' Diario de la Marina'' were infiltrated by a squad of uniformed men with rifles in their hands to prevent the journalists present from publishing an editorial in support of Rivero. The

Cuban government Cuba is communist and has had a socialist political system since 1961 based on the "one state, one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a single-party Marxist–Leninist socialist republic with semi-presidential powers. The pre ...

confiscated the newspaper and nationalized all of its property. On May 12, 1960,

Raúl Castro Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz ( ; ; born 3 June 1931) is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the One-par ...

and

Rolando Cubela Secades Rolando Cubela Secades (19 January 1933 – 23 August 2022) was a Cuban revolutionary leader who played a vital part in the Cuban Revolution, having been a founding member of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil and later the military lead ...

gave a symbolic burial of the newspaper at the

University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

. Raul Castro told the television cameras present that the government of Cuba would look for Rivero wherever he was in the world. On May 26, 1960, Jose Ignacio Rivero left into exile towards

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. He continued his journalistic career in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Later, Rivero settled in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida, where he wrote for the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

newspaper ''

Diario Las Américas ''Diario las Américas'' is the first Spanish-language newspaper founded in South Florida, the second oldest in the United States dedicated to Spanish-speaking readers, after ''La Opinión'', in Los Angeles. Its first copy circulated on July 4, ...

.'' A rally, in Rivero's honor, was held on November 17, 1963, by Dr. Emilio Nunez-Portuondo in preparation for a visit by

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

. The visit, which was aimed at dialoguing with members of the Inter-American Press Association, was able to generate an audience of "approximately 6,000 to 8,000

Cubans Cubans () are the citizens and nationals of Cuba. The Cuban people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish. The larger Cuban diaspora includes individuals that trace ancestry to Cuba and self-identify as Cuban but are n ...

" according to

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with conducting criminal investigations and providing protection to American political leaders, thei ...

estimates.

Death and legacy

Rivero's memoirs, ''Prado y Teniente Rey'' and ''Contra Viento y Marea Memorias de un Periodista: Periodismo y Mucho Mas, 1920–2004'', recount his experiences as director of the ''Diario de la Marina'' newspaper, the circumstances leading to his exile, and his ongoing

activism Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

on behalf of

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

. He died in Miami on August 3, 2011.

References

External links

''Diario de la Marina''
in the

Digital Library of the Caribbean The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is an international digital library operated collaboratively by the contributing partners. Partners Current partners continue to grow on a regular basis and are listed on thdLOC Partner Page Partners in ...

1920 births 2011 deaths Cuban journalists Cuban male journalists Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Cuban expatriates in Spain Cuban expatriates in the United States {{Cuba-journalist-stub