MIAMI, United States. – Cuban journalist Rafael Solano Morales, born in Cabaiguán in 1954, died this Tuesday in Madrid due to respiratory and cardiac consequences caused by the coronavirus, according to family sources. The Watcher of Cuba.
Solano, 70 years old at the time of his death, contracted COVID-19 in 2020 and remained hospitalized for several months at the Alcorcón Hospital, south of Madrid. Despite receiving a medical discharge, his physical condition was seriously affected, which led him to early retire from Radio Exterior de España, where he worked since his exile in 1996.
Throughout his career, Solano was awarded awards that highlight his contribution to radio journalism. Among them, the 1986 Spain Broadcasting Prize stands out for “They Came from the Canary Islands”, the 1988 King of Spain Prize (EFE) for “The Meeting of the Gods”, and the 2000 Tiflo Prize from the ONCE Foundation for “Aranjuez Concert”.
Each “Estampa cubana” program that Solano produced on Radio Taíno was cause for celebration by the radio listeners. The journalist managed to combine “the informative agility of a street reporter with the investigation of the healthiest and most vigorous aspects of Cuban life, before and after the Revolution,” according to Cabrera Pérez.
After two decades as a journalist for official media, Solano joined independent journalism alongside Raul Rivero and other colleagues.
In Madrid, where he had to go into exile in 1996, he was welcomed by Radio Exterior de España as a dedicated journalist.
According to journalist Carlos Cabrera Pérezin recent years he decreased his criticism of the Cuban regime and was planning his definitive return to the Island, but the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted his plans, leaving him stranded in Madrid with his wife, his mother and a brother.
