Sergio Sarmiento

Renowned Critical Journalist and Defender of Freedom and Democracy

"It is not convenient for Mexico to return to the times when the President controlled all political life. In a true democracy, power must be distributed. One of the great roots of the perfect dictatorship of the 20th century was the lack of counterweights to the President."

Sergio Sarmiento is a journalist and writer. He received an honors BA in Philosophy from York University of Toronto, Canada. He edited and published the Enciclopedia Hispánica. In 1981 he was a founding collaborator of the newspaper El Financiero and in 1994 he joined the newspaper Reforma. Sarmiento's syndicated newspaper column is presently published in more than 20 Mexican newspapers. His opinion pieces have been published in The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, among others international publications.

In the electronic media, Sarmiento joined Grupo Radio Centro in 1983. In 1993 he moved to TV Azteca as a commentator and two years later he was appointed vice president of news. Since 1997 he has been host of "La Entrevista con Sarmiento," a television interview show. Currently, he is the anchor of radio news "Sergio y Lupita en El Heraldo Radio."

Sarmiento is author of two books: Líderes and La palabra y los escritores. He was made chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. Also he received the Antena Life Achievement Award of Mexico’s National Chamber of Broadcasters. In 2011 he was invested commander of the Order of Isabella the Catholic by the Spanish government. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Media Leaders and the International Media Council. He is president of Caminos de la Libertad, a foundation of Grupo Salinas that promotes political, economic and social freedom.