Harris Whitbeck
Encyclopedia
Harris Whitbeck is CNN's International
Correspondent based in Mexico City
, Mexico
. He covers key events in Latin America and around the world for CNN Worldwide, including CNN International, CNN en Español
, and CNN/U.S
.
Since joining CNN in 1991, Whitbeck has reported on worldwide events including the war in Iraq
and its aftermath, the U.S. led war against the Taliban in Afghanistan
, the 2004 Haitian rebellion, the rebellion in Chiapas
, several papal visits to Latin America
and the hostage crisis at the Japan
ese embassy in Lima
. He also covered September 11's terrorist attack against The Pentagon
, in Washington, D.C.
He reported extensively from Turkey
and Jordan
before the war in Iraq and most recently he reported post war events from Iraq were he was part of the team of reporters who first broke the news of the death of Saddam Hussein
's sons.
In Latin America, Whitbeck has covered important developments on political, economic and social arenas as well as numerous devastations caused by natural disasters. Among those, Whitbeck covered floods in Venezuela
, the earthquake in Colombia
and destruction left by Hurricane Mitch. On the political side, Whitbeck reported on the presidential elections in Mexico
, Peru
and Argentina
, the Augusto Pinochet
extradition process, the coup attempt in Ecuador
, the death of Octavio Paz
and Bill Clinton
's trip to Latin America in May 1997. He also reported on the Latin American Summit from Monterrey
, Mexico.
Whitbeck has received various journalism accolades such as the National Headliner Award for coverage of the Ciudad Juárez
killings in 1999, and two others for his special report on the presence of Middle Eastern terror organizations in South America
's Triple Borders region, comprising Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay in 2001. He won the Global Media Award, given by the Population Institute; and the Environmentalist Media Award, from the Association of Environmental Media. He also received a special Emmy recognition for his journalistic achievements. In addition, Whitbeck was selected one of the 12 leaders in the International Journalism category for 2001 by Guatemala's Business Council.
A native of Guatemala
, Whitbeck holds a bachelor's degree in International Studies from Washington College
in Chestertown, Maryland
, and a master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University
in New York City
. He is fluent in English
, French
and Spanish
.
Harris Whitbeck has been the host of all 3 seasons of the latin american version of the reality show The Amazing Race Latinoamérica. The first two seasons aired on Discovery Channel
Latin America, under the name The Amazing Race en Discovery Channel. The third season will air on September 25, 2011 on Space
.
CNN International
CNN International is an international English language television network that carries news, current affairs, politics, opinions, and business programming worldwide. CNN is one of the world's largest news organizations. It is owned by Time Warner, and is affiliated with CNN, which is mainly...
Correspondent based in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. He covers key events in Latin America and around the world for CNN Worldwide, including CNN International, CNN en Español
CNN en Español
CNN en Español is CNN's Spanish language news channel. On March 17, 1997, CNN launched CNN en Español, a 24-hour Spanish-language news network for the Hispanic American and United States marketplace.-Mexico programming:...
, and CNN/U.S
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
Since joining CNN in 1991, Whitbeck has reported on worldwide events including the war in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and its aftermath, the U.S. led war against the Taliban in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, the 2004 Haitian rebellion, the rebellion in Chiapas
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
, several papal visits to Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and the hostage crisis at the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese embassy in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
. He also covered September 11's terrorist attack against The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
, in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He reported extensively from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
before the war in Iraq and most recently he reported post war events from Iraq were he was part of the team of reporters who first broke the news of the death of Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's sons.
In Latin America, Whitbeck has covered important developments on political, economic and social arenas as well as numerous devastations caused by natural disasters. Among those, Whitbeck covered floods in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, the earthquake in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and destruction left by Hurricane Mitch. On the political side, Whitbeck reported on the presidential elections in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, the Augusto Pinochet
Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet , was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973...
extradition process, the coup attempt in Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, the death of Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's trip to Latin America in May 1997. He also reported on the Latin American Summit from Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Mexico.
Whitbeck has received various journalism accolades such as the National Headliner Award for coverage of the Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
killings in 1999, and two others for his special report on the presence of Middle Eastern terror organizations in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
's Triple Borders region, comprising Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay in 2001. He won the Global Media Award, given by the Population Institute; and the Environmentalist Media Award, from the Association of Environmental Media. He also received a special Emmy recognition for his journalistic achievements. In addition, Whitbeck was selected one of the 12 leaders in the International Journalism category for 2001 by Guatemala's Business Council.
A native of Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Whitbeck holds a bachelor's degree in International Studies from Washington College
Washington College
Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...
in Chestertown, Maryland
Chestertown, Maryland
Chestertown is a town in Kent County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,746 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kent County. The ZIP code is 21620 and the area codes are 410 and 443...
, and a master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He is fluent in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Harris Whitbeck has been the host of all 3 seasons of the latin american version of the reality show The Amazing Race Latinoamérica. The first two seasons aired on Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
Latin America, under the name The Amazing Race en Discovery Channel. The third season will air on September 25, 2011 on Space
Space (Latin American TV channel)
Space is an Argentine cable television channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System and Time Warner. It airs movies, series and television shows. It is headquartered in Buenos Aires, Argentina...
.