ARTURO VILLAR, HISPANIC MARKET WEEKLY PUBLISHER, PASSES IN SPAIN

  Photo courtesy of Marcelo Salup

Arturo Villar, a pioneer in covering the trade news in the U.S. Hispanic Market, has died in Spain, at the age of 88, from causes apparently related to Covid-19.  He had been the publisher of HMW (Hispanic Market Weekly) until recently.   

Villar, a textile engineer by trade, gravitated from his profession and his family business to communications-related endeavors.   Around 1980, he created ALA, a news agency for Latin America, known as Agencia ALA which gathered some of the finest writing contributors from Latin America, among them, Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, and Cuban writer Carlos Alberto Montaner.   

Villar subsequently formed HMW and covered media and agencies in the growing U.S. Hispanic Market.  His connection to journalism kept them very active in supporting this profession’s awards from Columbia University, and was himself a recipient of the prestigious Cabot Award given by Columbia University.  He was also active in human rights initiatives, freedom-seeking Cuban politics and was one of the editors of the Cuban Encyclopedia.

Two years ago, our industry paid tribute to Villar when the former AHAA (now CMC) celebrated his contributions.   While intense business competitors, I felt honored to accompany Arturo to the podium that day.   

A Cuban American, as a child he had immigrated from Spain to Havana with his family.   Arturo’s passing took place last Saturday while visiting Santander with his son.  This is the city where he had been born in 1933.  

We at HispanicAd thank him for paving the way in the B2B trade marketing environment that allowed us to participate and enjoy a great business opportunity.

Que en Paz descanses.

Gene Bryan / CEO – HispanicAd

Fortes en Fide.