Almanac of Story Tellers: Jorge Gilberto Ramos Ávalos

Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is the story of March 16th

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    It is the 75th day of the year, leaving 290 days remaining in 2022.

   

    On this date in 1958, the Mexican-American journalist and news anchor, Jorge Gilberto Ramos Ávalos, was born in Mexico City.

    He is known professionally as Jorge Ramos, and he is the respected lead anchor for Univision's national Spanish-langauge nightly news program, Noticiero Univision, and its Sunday news program, Al Punto. He is widely regarded as the best known and most trusted Spanish language broadcaster in the United States, and is often referred to as "the Walter Cronkite of Latin America."

    He has gained the trust the old-fashioned way -- for his forthright manner in presenting the news, and his aggressive, sometimes persistent questioning of world leaders throughout the United States and Latin America.

    He has interviewed every American president from Gearoge W. Bush to Barack Obama, questioning the latter on his immigration policies. Ramos was thrown out of a press conference by the then candidate Donald Trump in 2015, and after the election, Trump refused his many inquiries for a sit-down interview.

    When Romas interviewed former Cuban president Fidel Castro, Castro's bodyguards threw him to the floor becaise of his tough questions. Bolivian President Evo Morales walked out of an interview. The current president of Venezula, Nicolás Maduro, detained Romas after an interview, confiscated his equipment and deported him. Later, Univision recovered the video and aired the entire interview. 

    Romas also has covered the civil war in El Salvador, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the Persian Guld War.  He writes a bilingual newspaper column that is published internationally.

    He sometimes uses Facebook to livestream his footage. He has written several books, and appears as a pundit on English-language programs in the United States. He has won 10 Emmy awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement. 

    He lives in Miami. In 2008, he became an American citizen.