He Cuban sports journalist and narrator Iván López has passed away in Havana on the evening of Tuesday 30 December, as confirmed by close sources and publications on social media that cited his wife.
Several messages from colleagues and sports pages expressed their displeasure at the news, underlining his path in written journalism and Cuban television.
The journalist Arnelio Alvarez informed that the death occurred around 9pm and that the confirmation came from López’s wife. Even the page Swing Completo reported receiving confirmation from Cuba that he had disappeared that same night in Havana.
Ivan Lopez he worked for years as a sports journalist in the newspaper Rebel Youth and later joined the sports editorial team of Tele Rebeldewhere he was widely recognized for his coverage and commentary on National Series baseball broadcasts.
In particular, various messages remembered him for his column “Pez Rubia” in Rebel Youth and for his style in on-field interviews, including his habitual references to weather conditions during matches.
In a personal farewell, Arnelio Álvarez said that in March they met in El Vedado, they conversed briefly and an interview remained pending, while other messages complained that the journalist he passed away almost in oblivion, despite having dedicated his life to Cuban sport.
Ivan Lopez Rodriguez he was born in Camagüey in 1943 and showed sporting inclination from a young ageparticipating in baseball and, already as a university student, practicing athletics, competing in distances such as 3,000 meters with hurdles, 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
He has a long and fruitful career in Rebel Youth and on television. He was awarded the 2019 National Sports Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award.
Social media publications expressed condolences to his family and friends, noting that his voice, passion and legacy will remain among those who followed Cuban sport through the press and television broadcasts.
In 2020 it emerged that he sold pork chicharrones part-timeas a supplement to his meager monthly pension.
Journalist Julita Osendi, in an interview with him, confirmed that he prepared chicharrones upon request for friends and neighbors on certain occasions.
“I would be ashamed if I harassed tourists, if I begged on the street, if I asked for a loan, but… I don’t do any of that! And I have to support Carmita and myself with a ridiculous pensioner’s salary that doesn’t reach 400 pesos. After many, many years of work, 52 in all, to earn 385 pesos, with the recently established increase. 385 pesos!”, expressed the reporter.
