Juvenal Balán.

Photo: Roberto Chile

"It is to the Revolution, to which I owe precisely, my condition as an artist, as a creator, as a social photographer"

Osvaldo Salas

I coincided with Juvenal in innumerable press coverage inside and outside Cuba.

I have seen him work.

Never waver.

I traveled to Pakistan in January 2006, three months after the earthquake that devastated that country in October 2005. Upon my arrival in Islamabad, I found Juvenal together with the envoys of the Cuban Television Information System in full journalistic work, challenging the adversities and dangers of that mission in which our health personnel wrote a beautiful page of heroism and humanity.

Traveling around the world, traveling the length and breadth of the island, and other Fidel activities, I was sharing —sometimes struggling— the best visual angle with this photojournalist, colleague and friend, whom I appreciate and admire for his professionalism and human virtues. .

Juvenal Balán, a photojournalist for the Granma newspaper, has held for a few days —thanks to these qualities and others essential for the profession— the José Martí National Award for the Work of Life, and a long record of service to the Homeland as a journalist and photographer .

With his example and dedication, and with his images, he shows it every day.

—Tell me about your stay in Pakistan as a Cuban correspondent, based on your photograph “Cuban doctors from the Henry Reeve Brigade”.

—After midnight, when I was about to go to bed, the silence was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone.

On the other side of the receiver they informed me that I had to be at Terminal 5 of the José Martí International Airport at five in the morning, to board a plane that would leave with a Cuban medical brigade to help the Pakistani people after the devastating earthquake that struck it. on October 5, 2005.

“After a long flight we arrived in Islamabad.

It was difficult to land the plane on the runway because they wanted to divert it to another destination.

In the end, due to the expertise of the pilots, the Cuban IL-62 landed on Pakistani soil.

“We did not have diplomatic relations with that country, but solidarity aid from Cuba still reached Pakistan.

The first impression we received was of catastrophe.

The crowded airport, planes from all over the world trying to land to offer help, military helicopters transporting victims from the earthquake site to hospitals.

That was chaos.

Under these conditions, our doctors arrived in Pakistani territory and immediately began their first actions.

“After an exploration of the place of the epicenter in Balakot, the first field hospital was installed there.

The Cuban health personnel themselves set up their tents and slept in them for several months, on sacks, on the ground.

“As the days passed, Cuban aid increased.

The mountains of the Himalayas were populated with our doctors.

The 32 field hospitals were equipped with operating rooms and first-generation equipment to assist the victims.

“The mission was hard.

Language was not a barrier thanks to the universal language of gestures.

The Pakistani children served as English translators and this facilitated communication between the patients and our doctors, who managed to create their own dictionary of words and phrases in the Pakistani languages.

“On December 31, 2005, the weather changed abruptly, temperatures dropped and the land was covered in snow.

That was not an impediment for the Cuban contingent either, which continued to mitigate pain and death.

“Sharing those moments with the largest Cuban internationalist medical mission in history was a challenge for us journalists and at the same time a commitment that we fulfilled with stoicism.

“Having the opportunity to witness the work of our army in white coats in Pakistan was an unforgettable experience.

Seeing our women walk with their backpacks on their backs defying the snow, to bring health and life to settlements where a doctor had never been, leaves deep traces.

Because we witnessed the altruism and solidarity that only a Revolution like ours is capable of offering”.

—Before you were a photographer, you were a soldier.

There, in the army, you took your first steps as a photojournalist when you had not yet arrived at the Granma newspaper.

How much did life and military training bring you?

—The army was the bridge to reorient my professional destiny.

There I forged much more discipline, values, integrity.

As a military journalist, I ventured into the life stories of the historical generations and the new generations that were forming on the defense front.

The coverage of exercises and maneuvers, and later, the fulfillment of the internationalist mission as a war correspondent, not only increases professional experience, but also prepares them for life, to undertake any project and face any task, however difficult it may be.

“The experience as a military journalist prepared me to face the coverage of hurricanes, natural disasters, earthquakes, tsunami and, why not, also to immerse myself in other spheres that allow transmitting to whoever receives the message, the lived reality and the spirituality that surrounds”.

—What excites you most about your job?

And what overwhelms or frustrates you the most?

—I get excited when I see my work published and someone I respect for their experience and professionalism congratulates me on the results.

Also when I receive recognition from those who receive it as spectators.

And what annoys me the most is when someone from a bureaucratic or organizational position and without knowing our profession in depth, makes decisions that hinder the work we do with love, selflessness and sensitivity to immortalize the moments we live, that pass and do not return. ”.

—What has been your greatest contribution to Cuban photojournalism?

-I've never thought about it.

Since I decided that photojournalism would be the meaning of my life, I have tried to carry out my profession with the highest quality, drinking from the sap of the teachers of the profession that preceded me, and multiplying knowledge both in the practical exercise and in the theoretical, because to train or direct professionals, you have to be an example.

"My humble contribution may have been to contribute a grain of sand in the collective work of witnessing for today and tomorrow, part of the history inside and outside Cuba of this heroic people."

—What have been the most difficult moments of your work as a photojournalist and the greatest satisfaction and joy?

—The most difficult moment occurred when I was practicing my profession as a war correspondent and witnessed the action of the caravaners in the “Venceremos” column protection detachment, or when we were flying over the theater of operations in helicopters, or when during a celebration for the anniversary of the character of Elpidio Valdés, created by Juan Padrón, in the Cabaña fortress, I was trying to capture a wide angle image and the cannon of the ceremony exploded in front of me, but I did not stop pressing the shutter.

Luckily I did not suffer any damage, although there were several injuries who were treated immediately and transferred to the Central Hospital of the FAR Luis Díaz Soto.

“The greatest joy, the day I received a congratulation from Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, transmitted by Bruno Rodríguez, then Head of the Cuban Mission in Pakistan, for the work we did on the work of our doctors, mitigating pain and death.

“In addition, I am also happy to have the joy of living and practicing my profession in the time of Fidel, whom I accompanied in different coverage in Cuba and abroad.

Carilda Oliver, National Literature Award, in the "Author and his Work", in the Ruben Martínez Villena library, in Old Havana.

She was accompanied by Miguel Barnet, president of UNEAC, and the writers Marilyn Bodes, el Chino Eras and Virgilio.

Also present were Roberto Fernández Retamar, president of Casa de las Américas, and Antón Arufa.

Combatant march along the Malecón and in front of the US interest office in Cuba in protest of the measures that George W. Busch wants to impose on Cuba for the transition to democracy.

It was chaired by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz and Army General Raúl Castro Ruz also participated.

(photo: Juvenal Balán) 05.14.04 SINA01N0

Steel Company "José Martí", Antillana de Acero, foundry workshop, in El Cotorro.

(photo: Juvenal Balán) 04.28.04

Cultural gala for the 55th anniversary of the Victory of Playa Girón and the VII Congress of the PCC chaired by José Ramón Machado Ventura, Second Secretary of the CCPCC, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers, as well as others members of the Political Bureau.

Affectations of Hurricane Gustav in the line of tobacco production in the province of Pinar del Rio.

Consolación del Sur.

CPA "Eliseo Caamaño" in Pilot

Mass of Pope Francis in the Plaza de la Revolución with the presence of Army General Raúl Castro, President of the Councils of State and Ministers;

Cristina de Kisnher, President of Argentina.

International Agricultural Fair 2013 at the Rancho Boyeros fairgrounds and the international rodeo with the participation of Mexico, Colombia, Panama and Cuba.

Silvio Rodríguez concert in Panama

Institute of cardiology and cardiovascular surgery on Calle 17 corner of Paseo in Vedado.

operating room

Cannon shot ceremony at 9 o'clock at night from the La Cabaña fortress, in the Morro Cabaña military historical park, in Havana.

(Taken from Cubaperiodistas)