By Art Jacobson | Pinecrest Tribune

In a community where many spend their time talking about Cuba, Alex Rivero talks to people in Cuba via radio and television.

Rivero is an employee of the International Broadcasting Bureau’s Office of Cuba Broadcasting, the organization that operates Radio and TV Mart�. He plays an important role in helping people who live on the island learn what is going on in Cuba and around the world.

As a researcher, it’s Rivero’s job to know as much about Cuba as possible � the history, politics, ideology, foreign policy, demographics, media and more. As a member of the editorial board, it’s also his job to help decide what the stations put on the air, what the broadcasters will emphasize and what they will treat casually. He enjoys the distinction of being one of the 10 original staffers still with the organization and considers his job essential in preparing the Cuban population for a time when the island nation will be a free and uncontrolled.

“This organization was created by an act of Congress in 1983,” said Rivero. Our mission is to broadcast news and analysis and to provide accurate, objective and timely information to the people of Cuba in accordance with the foreign policy of the United States and to the broadcast standards established by Voice of America. The people of Cuba have learned to depend on our service because Cuba’s media is tightly controlled by Fidel Castro’s government and our programming provides them with the information they need to make informed and intelligent decisions.”

Rivero came to the United States when he was five years old. He has made his home in Miami on several occasions, as well as in Puerto Rico, Colorado and Northern Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Miami in 1980 and a Master’s in Cuban Studies from the same institution in 1982. He was the president of the UM chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, an international history honor society, and taught classes in western civilization there as a graduate student.

Alex and Maria Rivero have been married for 23 years. They have three children; Alexis, 19, a freshman at Miami Dade Community College; Daniel, 17, a senior at Miami Palmetto Senior High School, and Gabriel, 10, a fifth grader at Palmetto Elementary School. All three boys have participated in organized sports in Pinecrest. They have played, and their father has coached, in the youth soccer league and in the Howard Palmetto Khoury League baseball program. His younger son, Gabriel, is a member of the league’s all-star traveling baseball team.

“I enjoy living in Pinecrest very much,” Rivero says. “I like the community, the people and working with youth sports, especially baseball. Living in Pinecrest gives me the opportunity to do the things I like best; exercising, biking, walking and being involved in sports. I also have the pleasure of writing occasional articles for El Nuevo Herald and other publications.”