• Submitted by: admin
• 11 / 25 / 2006

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PEDRO DE LA HOZ

Interview Luis Baez? The questioner par excellence was at ease and pleased to talk about the inner workings of a profession that he has carried out with intensity, audacity and conviction. The reason for the interview: his 70^th birthday!

Luis work speaks for itself about the revolutionary, political and intellectual contributions he has brought to making the reality of Cuba known through his writings, in books such as Camino de la victoria y otros reportajes (Victory road and other reports) (1978), Guerra secreta (Secret war) (1978), Los que se Fueron (Those who left) (1991), Los que se quedaron (Those who stayed) (1993), Memoria inedita: conversaciones con Juan Marinello (Unpublished memoirs: An interview with Juan Marinello) (1995), Secretos de generales (Secrets of generals) (1996), Absuelto por la historia (Absolved by history) (2001) and El merito es estar vivo (The merit is being alive) (2004).

He is also credited with long interviews with Armando Hart and Pablo Armando Fernandez and co-authored works with Rosa Miriam Elizalde reporting on so-called dissidents who are on the payroll of the US Interests Section in Havana, and about the process of change taking place in Venezuela.

The master interviewer revealed some of his secrets to Granma readers:

When and how did you choose to become a journalist?

From a young age I was attracted to journalism. I liked sports and especially baseball. I began to frequent the stadium, known today as the Latino Americano stadium, in the [Havana] neighborhood of El Cerro, to see professional baseball games. There I met sportswriters and personalities who helped open the door for me to the school of journalism. Before graduating, I began writing a column for the El Crisol newspaper, which came out midday. I wrote reports on the four professional baseball teams then: Habana, Almendares, Marianao and Cienfuegos. A famous Cuban umpire, Amado Maestri, helped me a lot in taking these first steps. I later worked for the Avance, an afternoon newspaper. On January 1, 1959, the papers chief editor Jorge Zayas "who just passed away in Miami and kept a critical position against US policy towards Cuba" assigned me to cover all information related to Fidel Castro. I remember he told me that I was supposed to be by Castros side all the time. "He is the news," Zayas said. If at that time I followed his advice for professional reasons, for 47 years afterwards, I have continued that effort out of personal conviction: Im still right by Fidels side.

Where does your penchant for interviewing come from?

Perhaps it has to do with personal attributes: I am very talkative, I am controversial. Or maybe it is because of the risks it entails, you must know how to provoke without hurting. Every new interview is something original; there are no two people alike. Moreover, the interview provides you with a special connection with other human beings. Its a safe-passage to get an inner look into the existence of others.

What are the virtues an interviewer should have? What are the dos and donts?

Nothing is more important for a good interview than doing your homework. It is important to be well informed about the people you are going to interview and aware of the objectives you are pursuing with the interview. Asking is an art in itself. As Voltaire said, "Judge a man by his questions, not by his answers." There are interviewers who love to listen to themselves, and they do not realize that conceit is the number one enemy of an interview.

What has been your most difficult interview? And which have you most enjoyed?

One of my hardest interviews was one I did with the then president of Panama, General Omar Torrijos. It was 1973, a time when there were no diplomatic relations between Panama and Cuba. No Cuban journalist had interviewed him and it was almost impossible to meet with him. I was able to get an interview with him by going through his mother and his siblings with whom I was a friend. The meeting took place aboard his private airplane. I had a long conversation with the Panamanian leader, which at first was pretty strained; but with the passing of a few hours the barriers came down and Torrijos shed his distrust. In one of lifes coincidences, Torrijos died years later in that same plane in which I had interviewed him, after it crashed under unclear circumstances. That was an interview I really enjoyed.

Is there any interview that you regret missing?

An hour with Fidel. And its not that I missed the interview, I just havent caught up with it yet.

What new book of interviews are you going to surprise us with?

If I tell you, it wouldnt be a surprise.

Source: Granma