Magaly Bernal, a Radio 26 legend.

I just read that Magaly Bernal, the actress, the announcer, the radio broadcaster, is gone. She had been ill for several years, but she was strong and her body resisted, I think, more than many imagined.

The image I am sharing was at Radio 26, the day the station celebrated its 60th anniversary… I don’t know if I ever told her how much I admired her.

When I arrived in the media, Magaly had been Magaly for a long time. She was already hard, but I saw her always the same, as if the years had not passed her by. Always thin, with her smile and her scarves.

Magaly was already a myth, the great actress of the Dramatic Group of Radio 26; the woman capable of splitting her voice into several characters in the same space, as she did in Guije Tinteneo, a children’s program that remained for several years in the programming of Radio 26.

The first time I saw her was at an anniversary party of Periódico Girón, I think, in November 2001. Domingo Orta, my director at the time, invited her and she did her thing, with that grace that characterized her.

When I went to Radio 26 in 2005, Magaly was there, always with Xiomara Fernandez. Together they made a respectable professional duo in every sense.

I have some beautiful memories of her that speak of her humility. When I started in radio, she approached me several times to give me advice on how to place my voice, how to read, the importance of pauses…
The drama studio at Radio 26 is next to the newscast and she would sneak in during breaks and listen to us as we recorded our news.

I was only 26 years old and although I had been a pioneer announcer, I came from the written press, full of vices and with a fucking cock voice.

She could not imagine how comforting it was for someone who was just starting out in the media to receive advice from someone she admired so much.

But it was not only the advice, but the affection with which he gave it and his humility, which is sometimes lacking in other mediocre people.

Several times, she gave me her appraisals on my comments, which have always been quite critical, in the media and in the networks. I listened to her, took note, and incidentally I was proud that she heard my things.

I also saw her demand justice and raise her voice for the love of radio in many meetings. She was not a people of half measures. Magaly spoke the truth up front and in direct language. Neither her voice nor her hands trembled.

I think one of the last things I saw her do (personally) was to record the voice for a radio documentary on the life and work of Jorge Luis Valdés Rionda. It was Ángel Darian Santacruz Quevedo’s graduation thesis and I was his tutor.

I was already in charge of Upec and I had moved away from radio, where I spent 10 years of my life, so I did not see Magaly so much.
When I told Angel that I was going to talk to Magaly, he thought it might be difficult, but no, Magaly agreed immediately and had the patience to meet the expectations of a young man with no radio experience.

I remember that we had to record in the Voces studio and there was no air, or it didn’t work. She not only did not complain, but she helped a little to direct that radio documentary in which her voice is the common thread.

Magaly also served as announcer at one time in the program El Familión, the one I wrote for 10 years. In fact, she did everything that was needed at any given moment.

Magaly, the 2018 National Radio Award, never left Matanzas… She always stayed in her Dramático, in her Radio 26.

And, I don’t know… maybe it’s a daring of mine. I know that this ensemble was created by the great Armando Soler (Cholito) and that other greats have passed, but, would it be too crazy to propose that this Radio Dramatic Ensemble in Matanzas be called Magaly Bernal Hernandez?

Taken from the Facebook profile of journalist Yirmara Torres