Raoul Alfonso Cortez is a noted Mexican-American media pioneer best known for founding KCOR in 1946. Although Puerto Rico’s WKAQ radio station was founded in 1922, it was the first full-time Spanish-language radio and television station in the United States. Cortez is also the former president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and has dedicated his life to advocating for Hispanic rights.
However, recent online discussions have cast doubt on the details of his death, with suggestions that it may have been a suicide or an accident. Due to these speculations, the health and illness of Raoul A. Cortez has become a topic of concern.
Cortez died in San Antonio, Texas, on December 17, 1971, and the cause of his death once again became the subject of global discussion. Although there has been recent discussion of his death, no official cause has been determined by suicide or illness. The circumstances of his death therefore remain a matter of speculation. The lack of comprehensive records from this period adds to the uncertainty surrounding his death.
Still, it’s important to remember Cortez’s seminal role as a pioneer in the Spanish-language media industry in the United States. His contributions, while significant, are overshadowed by the mystery of his early death.
Talking about his personal life, Raoul A. Cortez was born in 1905 in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, one of nine siblings. His father owned a radio station in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo. In his early years, Cortez used proceeds from egg sales to buy airtime on a local radio station, where he would host a variety show and sell advertising space. The family immigrated to the United States during the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s.
In addition to his professional achievements, Cortez was a devoted family man. He and his wife, Genoveva Valdés Cortez, raised three children: two daughters, Rosamaria Cortez (Toscano) and Irma Cortez (Nicolas), and a son, Raoul Cortez Jr. dominate personal life. Little is known about the life and current situation of his wife and children.
Cortes began his journalism career as a reporter for La Prensa, a Spanish daily newspaper in San Antonio. His goal was to earn enough to buy airtime on local radio station KMAC, where he could produce his own Spanish-language variety show and pay for it by renting advertising space for his productions.
