Óscar J. Reyes Baca, a Honduran-born journalist who for two decades was editor of El Pregonero, the oldest Hispanic publication in the Washington metropolitan area, died March 12. He was 88.
“It is with deep regret that we report the passing of Óscar Reyes Baca, who for many years served as editor of El Pregonero and left an indelible mark on those of us who had the privilege of working alongside him,” El Pregonero said on its website.
“At this difficult time, we extend our condolences to his family and loved ones,” it said.
El Pregonero was founded in 1977 by the Hispanic Catholic Center, and in 1985, it began operating under the administration of the Carroll Media Company, which is part of the Washington Archdiocese’s Secretariat for Communications. In 1985, Reyes applied to work for the newspaper as a reporter and became its editor a year later.
Reyes got his start as a journalist for a student newspaper in high school. He also lived in Nicaragua, where he studied journalism at the National University and became editor of La Noticia newspaper and assistant editor of La Prensa newspaper.
Reyes, who had a master’s degree in mass communication, taught at the School of Journalism of the National Autonomous University of Honduras, of which he was a founder. Reyes was expelled from his homeland in 1982 after he and his wife, Gloria, were tortured by Honduran military operatives. They and their two children sought asylum in the United States.
He became a U.S. citizen in the 1990s. He told the Catholic Standard, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington and sister publication of El Pregonero, that he felt blessed to work and address issues “without fear” in a country with freedom of press and freedom of speech.
In a news story about Reyes’ death, El Pregonero included reactions from people in the Washington and Maryland communities extolling his kindness and sense of justice. Carlos Cabán, former editor of El Tiempo Latino, said Reyes was “a great journalist dedicated to the Latino community in D.C.”
Like many newcomers, Reyes upon arriving in the U.S. in the early 1980s worked a number of jobs. He began working in a 7 Eleven store, then cleaned office buildings, did translations and taught Spanish, before becoming a reporter for El Pregonero. During his tenure, the newspaper won dozens of awards both from the Catholic Press Association, now the Catholic Media Association.
In 2005, Reyes was honored with the St. Francis de Sales Award, the highest recognition of the CPA, now CMA. Upon receiving the award, Reyes said he was “very proud” not for himself, but for the recognition the award gave El Pregonero. “The award is not for me but for the group that made this possible,” he told his colleagues in the Catholic press back then.
“Óscar Reyes, a prior recipient of the Francis DeSales award, has been known for his commitment to Catholic journalism and to reaching Hispanic Catholics through his work in El Pregonero. We offer our condolences to his family and pray for them during this time,” said Gretchen R. Crowe, president of the CMA board and editor-in-chief of OSV News, on March 24.
Reyes retired as editor of El Pregonero in June 2005, after close to 20 years of service to the Archdiocese of Washington.
In 2006, a federal judge in Miami ordered the military officer to pay millions in damages to Reyes and his wife, as well as other plaintiffs, for the torture they endured in Honduras. Retired Col. Juan Lopez Grijalba had headed the Honduran military intelligence in 1982 when Oscar and Gloria Reyes were kidnapped from their home by military operatives and the judge ruled that he was legally responsible for the actions that resulted in the torturing of the couple. Catholic News Service reported that in 2004, Oscar Reyes said at a news conference that the aim of the lawsuit was not to win money but to hold accountable someone who abused human rights.
Details of the funeral services for Reyes are still pending.
