María Alejandra Requena

María Alejandra Requena has spent much of her career telling other people’s stories. Today, one of the most meaningful stories she shares is her own. The Venezuelan journalist, who became a familiar face to millions through CNN en Español, has found a different kind of connection with audiences through Elijo ser feliz (I Choose to Be Happy), a deeply personal project that began with a book and has grown into a podcast, speaking engagements and a community dedicated to helping people through difficult chapters of their lives.

Her message comes from a deeply personal experience that changed everything. In April 2018, while covering the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, Requena received a devastating call from her daughter in Miami. Her husband, pilot Ismael Hurtado, with whom she had shared nearly 26 years of her life, had suffered a stroke. Their children, Andrés and Miranda, tried to help him before emergency services arrived. Hurtado passed away on April 12, leaving the family heartbroken. However, his decision to become an organ donor ultimately saved three lives.

For Requena, rebuilding her life took time. She began writing as a way to process her grief, eventually turning those pages into her 2023 book, Elijo ser feliz. The experience also opened the door to conversations with others facing loss, uncertainty and the challenge of beginning again. Along the way, she found love again with Venezuelan actor Luciano D’Alessandro, an important part of the new chapter she has embraced.

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By the time her life changed in 2018, Requena had already built an impressive career in Spanish-language television, with years of experience at some of the industry’s most recognized networks.

Born in Caracas, she began her career at Venezuela’s RCTV before moving to CNN en Español, where she spent a decade hosting Café CNN and the prime-time newscast Panorama Mundial. One of her proudest moments came in 2016, when Café CNN won a Daytime Emmy, and she dedicated the award to Venezuela, saying she owed everything she was to her country. 

In 2020, she received another Emmy recognition for CNN’s coverage of the riots in Barcelona. In 2024, she joined Canela News as a lead anchor. Since leaving the network, she has focused on her philanthropic work and pursuing a certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Her personal experiences have increasingly shaped her work outside the newsroom. In January 2025, after undergoing surgery to remove cancerous lesions from her face, she spoke publicly about the importance of paying attention to one’s health. Her advice was simple: “We need to take action rather than just worry.”

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That willingness to speak openly has become central to Elijo ser feliz, a weekly Uforia podcast with nearly 150 episodes. Her newest initiative, Mi Refugio, takes the conversation further, offering an online community for people experiencing loss, including monthly gatherings called Vino & Conversación con Mariale.

This year, 2026, Requena also joined more than 20 Venezuelan personalities for Frank Quintero’s charity single, Esperando un nuevo sol, recorded in response to the earthquakes that struck Venezuela. It was another opportunity to lend her voice to a cause close to her roots.

Today, Requena continues to balance journalism with a more personal mission. Her message resonates because she never presents happiness as something easily achieved or grief as something that simply disappears. She knows how complicated starting over can be. Through the conversations she creates, she gives others a place to feel understood as they find their way forward. For María Alejandra, choosing happiness doesn’t mean forgetting what was lost. It means allowing life to surprise you again.