Luz Nereida Vélez
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Luz Nereida Vélez (born October 6, 1955) is a Puerto Rican television news reporter and
anchorwoman A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
on the
WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish language in the United States, Spanish-language Independent station (North America), independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is owned by :es:Hemisphere Media Group, Hemisphere Media Group, w ...
news show ''NotiCentro 4'', having worked since 1978.


Early life and career

Vélez grew up in the western
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
town of Mayagüez. There, she used to play with a
tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...
and microphone at her family's house. She would practice talking about news and play music with this recorder. Vélez excelled in school, becoming a member of a group for very intelligent students. She was accepted, at the young age of 15, to the
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a public land-grant university in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. UPRM ...
, from where she hoped to graduate with a medical degree as a surgeon. It was while there that she got her first job as an anchorwoman, when she was hired by a local radio station, WOLE, which covered the areas of Mayagüez and
Aguadilla Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...
.


Television career

Vélez lived in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
for a period. She wanted to enroll at
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
, but decided, during a vacation trip to Puerto Rico, to telephone WAPA-TV from San Juan's airport and ask if there were any internships available. During the drive from Isla Verde International Airport in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, to her hometown of Mayagüez, Vélez told her father to detour and make a stop at the WAPA-TV building. There, she was interviewed by their news director, Bill Perez. She was offered a screen test and soon she was contracted by the station, becoming the first woman to present news for WAPA. In 1978, at the age of 23, Vélez joined ''NotiCentro 4'' as a television news reporter. She soon became a celebrity in Puerto Rico. Originally, she worked the show's afternoon and nightly editions, then, once a morning edition (''NotiCentro al Amanecer'') was launched, she also began working on that. As of 2022, Velez had spent 48 years as a television newscaster. On May 16, 2023, she was honored at Noticentro 4 for her 45 years on that show.


Award

On June 13, 2022, Vélez, along with
Sylvia Gomez Sylvia may refer to: People *Sylvia (given name) *Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter *Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive *Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer credi ...
,
Cyd Marie Fleming Cyd Marie Fleming (born 1958) is a Puerto Rican television news journalist. She was once an anchorwoman for a show named "Las Noticias" on Univision Puerto Rico, Tele-Once (channel 11), a major Puerto Rican television network. Career Fleming h ...
and
Eddie Miro Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...
(who received a Gold Circle Award for his fifty years on Puerto Rican television) was recognized with a Silver Circle
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
award for her 48 years as a television reporter.


Personal life

Vélez grew up in a house where both Spanish and English were spoken and encouraged as languages by her parents. She is bilingual, having learned English by practicing it one hour every day as a young girl. Vélez met Ovi Ramos, 23 years her junior, during 2016. Ramos is a singer for a rock band named La Novena. A couple of years later, the couple had separated. Vélez has a daughter: a singer and internet influencer named Alhanna, who released her first album, "De Rumba", in 2019.


See also

* List of Puerto Ricans *
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*
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velez, Luz Nereida 1955 births Living people University of Puerto Rico alumni People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mass media people from Pittsburgh Puerto Rican news anchors Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent