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Cuban sports journalism has lost one of its beloved figures: Abelardo Oviedo Duquesne, known in the field as "El Brother," passed away after a long illness that had kept him away from public life. The news of his death was known approximately five days later than it actually occurred, as noted by journalist René Navarro in his tribute on social media.
Navarro described him as "the witty and original dark-skinned figure of basketball and Cuban sports" and emphasized that he was "a pioneer of the sports section of the newspaper Trabajadores and for many years a writer for the magazine Bohemia."
The journalist and professor Iraida Calzadilla was one of the first to share the news among her colleagues. In her farewell post, she recalled that Oviedo was the head of the sports section of the newspaper Trabajadores when the newspaper's headquarters were still on Virtudes Street, and that he was also her colleague at the University.
Calzadilla recalled one of the journalist's most characteristic phrases: "It was the humorous way in which that big man of ebony concluded any conversation before heading off to write a piece: 'I'm going to wrap a cigar,' I heard him say dozens of times as he raised his hands with his notebook."
The phrase became so popular in the community that, according to Calzadilla, at least two colleagues attempted to claim it over time, and she had to clarify that its authorship belonged to Oviedo.
The journalist Michel Contreras González shared on Facebook his own memories of the Brother, with whom he shared a room during the coverage of the Pan American Games in Winnipeg 1999, an event in which Cuba achieved a plentiful harvest of medals. Contreras described him as someone endowed with "an innate charisma that completed the best smile in the national press."
Among the anecdotes that Contreras treasured from that coverage, he recalled how El Brother would blast Van Van at full volume in the car of an elderly German man living in Canada, bargained with such fervor in the stores that the employees would end up calling the manager to accept his terms, and made every sports volunteer laugh with an English "so personal that it seemed like his own dialect."
Contreras also emphasized the sports dimension of Oviedo: "As a basketball fan, a sport I practiced until almost attending the Olympics, he called me to go to the higher basketball league." The journalist measured approximately 1.90 meters and played basketball at a competitive level, which gave him a unique perspective in his coverage of the sport.
René Navarro also recalled that Oviedo excelled in covering athletics and other popular sports, in addition to basketball.
The magazine Bohemia, where Oviedo worked for many years, dedicated a necrological article titled "My Farewell to the Brother" by Rafael Pérez, highlighting the significant impact he had on sports journalism in the Island.
The death of Oviedo adds to other losses that have impacted Cuban sports journalism in recent years. The announcer Roberto Pacheco Martínez, from Radio Rebelde, passed away in May 2023; Juan Emilio Batista Cruz, a pioneer of sports journalism in Las Tunas, died in March 2022; and Eddy López Sánchez, the voice of sports on Tunera radio, passed away in December of that same year.
Cuban basketball, a sport that Oviedo was connected to throughout his life, has been experiencing decades of decline. In 2025, figures like Miguelito Calderón, a legend of the sport, were reported to be in precarious conditions, reflecting the overall situation of sports in Cuba.
He is survived by his wife, the veteran journalist Caridad Carrobello, and his son Yasser. Contreras concluded his tribute with an image that encapsulates the character: "El Brother, a devoted admirer of his son El Yase and his wife Cary, was, above all else, a guy who laughed. And that is how I prefer to keep him in my memory. I suppose up there, if souls communicate with each other, he must have already made many people laugh." Heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.
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