History of AP Spanish-language services

Early services for Latin America
AP began delivering news to Latin America with cable service to two Cuban newspapers in 1898. In 1914, a cablegram from La Nacion in Buenos Aires, seeking AP news of World War I, led to the expansion of AP service to South America. AP established a bureau in Buenos Aires in 1917 and La Nacion became a subscriber in 1919.

The origin of AP’s La Prensa Asociada (LPA)
AP began reporting in Spanish on October 1, 1941, with the initiation of a new multinational service known as La Prensa Asociada (LPA). LPA was the designation for the AP’s Spanish-language operation, not a separate content package. LPA delivered a combination of Spanish and English copy for newspapers in South America and the Caribbean.

By the 1950s, AP’s LPA and United Press International were the leading agencies for Spanish-language news and photos in Latin America, followed by Agence France Press. Reuters and Agencia EFE also covered news in Spanish by the 1960s.

The launch of AP’s Latin American package for newspapers
AP formed an editing desk of skilled Spanish speakers at its New York City headquarters in 1952, creating a Spanish package for newspapers. AP news was delivered to and from Latin America via radio signal with at least three, and later four, daily transmissions on different radio frequencies.

Each transmission included at least five photos. Transmissions were slow by today’s standards, and often had to be repeated because of “sun spots” that garbled radio waves.

Latin American copy was sent to New York via radio well into the late 1960s through state owned agencies or private companies like All America Cables and Tropical Radio. The first regional direct news transmission was established in 1969, when AP established a microwave connection between bureaus in Panama to Mexico City.

The addition of a Caribbean package and presence in Cuba
The Puerto Rico wire for newspapers launched in the mid 1960s, and continues today. AP’s bureau in San Juan heads coverage of Puerto Rico.

In the early 2000s, AP’s Havana bureau reopened after being closed for nearly three decades. AP was the second U.S. news agency allowed back into Cuba. The first was CNN. AP’s return was the result of years of negotiations and multiple contacts with the Cuban government. During the time that the bureau was closed, the Mexico bureau maintained contacts with the Cuban government, helping the AP obtain frequent two-week visas for reporting trips to Cuba.

Expanded sports, entertainment and U.S. news in Spanish
As AP deepened Spanish coverage of news worldwide, it also broadened coverage in the U.S. of sports and entertainment. As far back as the 1960s, AP provided extensive coverage of Major League Baseball in Spanish. During the 1990s, AP began providing Spanish coverage of every game with notes on all Latino players. AP also now sends a staffer annually to cover spring training camps in Spanish.

AP has also expanded its boxing and soccer coverage in Spanish, and provides dedicated Spanish staffing of entertainment events including the Academy Awards and Latin Grammys.

Multimedia news services for online use
In 2001, AP developed AP Online en Español for web sites, combining web-formated news, sports and business coverage, headline packages, enterprise coverage and Spanish-captioned photo coverage in an around-the-clock multimedia service. This service was expanded in 2004 to include more U.S. coverage, and a hosted version of AP Spanish Online was launched.

Expansion of AP’s services in Spanish
AP’s Spanish reporting and editing services grew steadily through the latter decades of the 20th century, making AP the pre-eminent independent news service in Latin America. In the early 2000s, AP developed Mexico City as a hub of its Latin American reporting.
In 2004, AP developed broader coverage of U.S. news in Spanish. With this new copy from the U.S., the Latin American report became a comprehensive print service called AP Spanish.

In 2005, AP added Spanish entertainment and sports editors to expand coverage of those specialties, and launched an around-the-clock Spanish headlines service for online and wireless use.

Native Spanish speakers from numerous Spanish-speaking regions staff both the Mexico City and New York desks. Each desk selects stories of interest to Spanish-speaking audiences, edits original Spanish reports and translates top world and U.S. stories from English into Spanish. All translations are performed by AP journalists, who often rewrite stories for Hispanic readers. AP strives to use an "international Spanish" style that is useful to newspapers all over the U.S. and Latin America.

Today, more than 70 AP reporters and editors, dozens of news photographers and videographers now cover news, sports, business and entertainment from 22 Latin American locations.

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