| | |  Travel Writers' Resources | February 2009 
Dean of Latin American Foreign Correspondents Dies in Mexico
 Latin American Herald Tribune
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| | Like so many great Latin American journalists, Eloy Aguilar cut his teeth at the legendary Daily Journal in Caracas, Venezuela.
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Mexico City - U.S. journalist Eloy Aguilar, president of the Foreign Correspondents' Association in Mexico and a longtime bureau chief for the Associated Press, died of an apparent heart attack in this capital, sources close to the journalist said. He was 72.
Aguilar, who headed that correspondents' group for 15 years and had served for a quarter century as the AP bureau chief for Mexico and Central America, died Friday while on his way to a conference.
A native of Texas, he retired from the AP in 2006 and at the time of his death was the director of Mexican daily El Universal's news agency.
He won the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for Foreign Journalism in 2000.
During his 20 years as Mexico bureau chief, Aguilar oversaw coverage of civil wars in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, protecting local correspondents during periods of press censorship and defending them from reprisals by groups from both sides of the political spectrum. He covered or coordinated coverage of: five papal visits to Mexico, Central America and Cuba; the 1985 earthquake in Mexico; the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama; the Pan-American Games, and two World Cup soccer games in Mexico. He also assisted in establishing the AP's bureau in Havana.
Aguilar spent virtually his entire career in Latin America, starting at the legendary training ground for so many great Latin American journalists, "The Daily Journal" in Caracas in 1961. From there, he joined The Associated Press in Caracas in 1965, transferring to Puerto Rico in 1966, moving to Mexico as a correspondent in 1969, then transferring to Dallas in 1972. He returned to San Juan as chief of Caribbean Services in 1977, before becoming Mexico bureau chief in 1979. |
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