Carlos Castaneda, 70; Five-Decade Career in Spanish-Language Press

Carlos Castaneda, 70, the publisher emeritus of El Nuevo Herald in Miami who worked in the Spanish-language press for more than five decades, died Thursday in Lisbon of complications from leukemia.

Castaneda, who spent 28 years of his career as editor and publisher of El Nuevo Dia in Puerto Rico, was hospitalized Tuesday while on vacation in Portugal.

During three years as editor and publisher of El Nuevo Herald, Castaneda redesigned one of the nation’s largest Spanish-language dailies, changed its editorial content, and boosted circulation and advertising.

Castaneda, who was born in Havana in 1932, was the host of his own radio sports show by the time he was 16. He graduated from journalism school at Havana University.

He fled to New York with his family in 1960 to escape the Castro regime. Five years later, he joined the Spanish-language version of Life in 1965, working as correspondent, editor and publisher until 1969.

The next year, he joined the Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Dia. During his long tenure as the daily’s editor and publisher, Castaneda saw circulation grow nearly 13-fold.