MIAMI, United States – On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of its founding, Newspaper Las AmericasFlorida’s first Spanish-language newspaper, celebrates a trajectory that, since its inception in 1953, has reflected the diversity and strength of the Hispanic community in the state where the sun always shines.
Founded by Horacio Aguirre, the son of a Nicaraguan political refugee, the newspaper established itself as a crucial source of news and commentary for the region’s growing Hispanic population, especially the Cuban community.
“My dad had the idea of creating a newspaper that would pay attention to the entire hemisphere at a time when news about Latin America and the Caribbean, and vice versa, did not cross the border so easily,” has remembered his son Alejandro Aguirre.
Horacio Aguirre, who earned the title of “civilian hero of this city”, died in 2017 at the age of 92. Known for his deep sense of solidarity and his constant effort to build bridges between people, he is remembered as a pioneering and significant figure in US Hispanic journalism.
On July 4, 1953, in a highly symbolic decision, Aguirre released the first issue of Newspaper Las Americas, an edition of eight pages. “We deliberately selected one of the great days in the history of liberty,” he said in a column published in the miami herald in 1993, emphasizing that the founding date of the newspaper had not been a fluke.
During decades, Newspaper Las Americas he focused on local and Latin American news, becoming the voice of the Hispanic community in South Florida and especially for Cubans in Miami. From Monday to Saturday, the newspaper arrived at homes and newsstands with the next day’s date printed, demonstrating Aguirre’s faith that Miami’s Hispanic population would support his effort.
The legacy of Horacio Aguirre, described by David Lawrence, Jr., former CEO of the Herald and president of The Children’s Movement, as “the great gentleman of journalism in Miami,” continues to be central to Newspaper Las Americas.
“It was the epitome of the era of yesteryear, a time of elegance, good manners and courtesy. His children continued with more active roles in the newspaper, but Dr. Aguirre will forever be identified with the great Newspaper Las Americas”said former congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
The newspaper was sold in 2013 to a group of Venezuelan investors and continues to be published today, along with its website. Seventy years after its founding, Newspaper Las Americas it continues to be an integral part of Florida’s journalistic landscape and continues to honor its founder’s vision: to keep alive the essence of democracy and a free press.
