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José Enrique "Kike" Cruz Díaz (born 28 December, 1952), better known as Enrique "Kike" Cruz, is a Puerto Rican television journalist. A former news director of Canal 4, Cruz is in the
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
as having the longest career as a television news director, being the news director of Canal 4's news show, Noticentro 4, for 42 years.


Early life

Cruz was born in
Orocovis, Puerto Rico Orocovis (, ; from the Taíno, Taino chief Orocobix) is a town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico located in the center of the island. Founded by Juan Rivera de Santiago in 1825. Orocovis is spread over 17 barrios. It ...
, the son of businessman Carmelo Cruz and homemaker Berta Díaz.Enrique “Kike” Cruz volvería a nacer orocoveño-VÍDEO - Primera Hora
/ref> In high school, Cruz used to do the school announcements on the school's public speaker. He was selected as class, student council and Catholic students body president.Enrique “Kike” Cruz celebra su pasión - Primera Hora
/ref> At the age of 19, Cruz debuted as a radio news journalist at WIAC, a radio station in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
. Cruz during the era also took curses at the
University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...
, where he wanted to study medicine at first, but from where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in general studies instead. He then worked for WKAQ radio and for
11Q Chromosome 11 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. Humans normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 11 spans about 135 million base pairs (the building material of DNA) and represents between 4 and 4.5 percent of the tota ...
, which were two other San Juan radio stations. Soon, however, his life would change when he met
Alfred D. Herger Alfred Domingo Herger (born November 4, 1942) is a Puerto Rican television show host and a psychologist. He has been labeled ''the Ed Sullivan of Puerto Rico'' in local media, due to his strong influence on Puerto Rican popular culture and his su ...
, who, alongside
Evelio Otero Evelio Otero (March 13, 1920 – February 12, 1988) was the first television anchorman in Puerto Rico and one of the first in Latin America. Early life Otero was born on March 13, 1920, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, to a Galician father and Can ...
, invited Cruz to join television's Canal 4 as a news reporter on their television news show, "Noticentro 4".


Television news journalist

"Kike" Cruz started at WAPA-TV during 1976. He was a news anchorman at Noticentro 4, along with others such as Guillermo Jose Torres,
Pedro Rosa Nales Pedro Rosa Nales (born December 3, 1956, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican journalist, news anchor and a recognized martial artist. As a journalist he has received over 20 awards. Journalism He started working at radio station WMDD ...
and Luz Nereida Velez. On 10 November, 1980, he was named vice-president and director of the channel's news department. Cruz reported on many international news as a Noticentro 4 journalist. Among the news that really left a personal impact on him were the Jonestown Massacre in
Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
and the Maria Hurricane in
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
.https://www.pressreader.com/puerto-rico/el-nuevo-dia1/20180812/281509342017670 In the
Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...
suicide-murder case at the so-called "Jonestown", Cruz flew to Guyana to cover the news and he reported in Guyana from a helicopter live to Puerto Rican audiences, and viewing the bodies of the dead from the helicopter affected him. Another important news event Cruz covered live was the arrival of
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
to Puerto Rico in 1984, in a transmission in which he was also the general producer. That moment was the first, and, as of 2023, only time a Pope has visited Puerto Rico. Cruz retired as a television journalist at canal 4 in the early 2010s. During 2019, Cruz made a brief comeback to his career as a television journalist, rejoining Noticentro 4 for a bit while, while the channel found someone else to do that job. He then proceeded to, in 2021, join Canal 11's news department.El director de noticias Enrique “Kike” Cruz y extalentos de “Dando Candela” llegan a TeleOnce - El Nuevo Día
/ref>


Personal life

Cruz married Ligia Serrallés. The couple had three children: daughter Maria Margaríta (born in 1979) and sons José Enrique, Jr. (born 1990) and Jorge Juan (born 2000).


See also

*
List of Puerto Ricans This is a list of notable people from Puerto Rico which includes people who were born in Puerto Rico (Borinquen) and people who are of full or partial Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Puerto Rican citizens are included, as the governm ...
* Guillermo Jose Torres *
Rafael Bracero Rafael Bracero Torres (born 1940 in Santurce, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican sportscaster. Bracero graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez then known as ''Colegio de Artes Mecánicas'' (College of Arts and Mechanical Arts - '' ...
*
Pedro Rosa Nales Pedro Rosa Nales (born December 3, 1956, in Fajardo, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican journalist, news anchor and a recognized martial artist. As a journalist he has received over 20 awards. Journalism He started working at radio station WMDD ...
* Efren Arroyo *
Jennifer Wolff Jennifer Wolff Conde (1960 – February 6, 2024) was a Puerto Rican television reporter, show host, company executive and writer. From 1981 to 1996, Wolff appeared on multiple Puerto Rican television news shows, becoming a celebrity in the isl ...
*
Luis Antonio Cosme Luis Antonio Cosme is a Puerto Rican television cook, actor, singer, musician, writer, producer, reporter and show host. He is mostly known as one of two show hosts and cooks, usually alongside Otilio Warrington, "Bizcocho", of two television co ...
*
Maria Falcon Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...
*
Aníbal González Irizarry Aníbal González Irizarry (February 25, 1927 – November 14, 2018) was a Puerto Rican educator, journalist and news broadcaster. Early years González Irizarry was born and raised in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, where he received his primary a ...
*
Junior Abrams Juan Ramón Abrams Jr, better known as Junior Abrams (born April 25, 1955 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican television and radio sportscaster, actor and show host. Biography After years of radio broadcasting experience on WRAI AM with H ...
*
Luis Francisco Ojeda Luis Francisco Ojeda (born June 16, 1941) is a well-known Puerto Rican television, radio reporter and host, noted for his aggressive, uncompromising questioning. He spent 50 years on radio until his retirement in 2020. Early years Ojeda was bor ...
*
Avelino Muñoz Stevenson Avelino Muñoz Stevenson (November 23, 1956 at San Juan, Puerto Rico – June 21, 2019 at Hato Rey, Puerto Rico) was a Puerto Rican television sportscaster, newspaper reporter, actor, comedian, show host, emcee, television producer and musical p ...
*
Keylla Hernández Keylla Ivonne Hernández Ramos (May 10, 1973 – December 31, 2018) better known as Keylla Hernández, was a Puerto Rican television reporter. She worked for WAPA-TV and was the co-anchor of the station's morning news show, ''Noticentro al Amanece ...
* Jorge Rivera Nieves *
Sylvia Gómez Sylvia Gómez is a Puerto Rican television journalist and show host. For 50 years, Gómez has been active on Puerto Rican television. She is best known as an anchorwoman for canal 2's television news show, '' Telenoticias en Accion'', and for her ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Enrique 1952 births Living people People from Orocovis, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican television journalists University of Puerto Rico alumni