Amaya, Hernando, 1954-

Hernando Amaya was born in Bogota, Colombia and fondly remembers playing football as a part of the Seleccion Infantil de Millonarios, a local football club for youth. From childhood he had a deep passion for telling stories and writing. During high school, he started a school newspaper where students would publish parodies of telenovelas and local news. While his father hoped his children would follow in his footsteps and pursue careers in hospitality, Hernando desired to pursue his passion. He completed an undergraduate program in hospitality, but eventually received the opportunity to work for a Colombian radio station, which further confirmed for him his dream of studying journalism. He would later complete a specialization program in media communications while he worked for the national newspaper, El Espectador. During his time there, Hernando covered the Narco Terrorism occurring in Medellin, responded to the car bombs in the city, and witnessed many of the atrocities that have marked Colombian history. Eventually, he would get to serve as the news correspondent for the Presidential Palace of Colombia, also known as La Casa de Nariño. He shared his firsthand account of witnessing the taking over of the Palace of Justice by the Narco Terrorists and guerilla forces, and experiencing threats on his life for the work he was doing. Later, he would work with the Colombian military to develop a radio network in response to the a violent guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which used the radio to recruit young children and youth. While on-air, Hernando would receive a serious death threat from the FARC and later one targeted towards his family, which would be the driving force behind his migration to the United States. Hernando arrived to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2001 and continued his career in journalism through El Tiempo, a local Latinx serving newspaper (which was later bought by the Las Vegas Review Journal). Hernando later became the editor and began to introduce new sections and themes geared towards international, national, and local news relevant to Latinx/os/as in the valley. After 12 years of service with El Tiempo, Hernando began working for Inmigracion.com, which provides immigration information and relevant news content in Spanish. He has previously served as the President for the Colombian Association of Las Vegas (COLAVE), was a member of the National Association of Hispanic Publications, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and previously volunteered for CHISPA, a local conservation organization.

Source:

Hernando Amaya, 2018 October 18 and 2018 December 03. OH-03497. [Cite format consulted: Audio recording or Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.