'Noticiero Univision' 's' ' Jorge Ramos's Moving Goodbye Letter to Former Co-Anchor María Elena Salinas

On Univision.com, Jorge Ramos wrote a heartfelt open letter to his former co-host of almost 30 years María Elena Salinas on the eve of her final newscast. On Dec. 8, the Mexican news anchors co-hosted Noticiero Univision for the last time. Colombian journalist Ilia Calderón, the first Afro-Latina to anchor a major news desk, took Salinas’s seat Dec. 11.

“We have been an on-air couple for so many years and sometimes people get confused and call me Jorge Salinas. That’s always amusing to me. I have to thank her for putting up with me all these years. Nobody, ever, had done it like her and for so long,” he said.

Ramos, who is currently in a relationship with Venezuelan TV host Chiquinquirá Delgado, thanked Salinas for being a constant presence in his life. “There are many things that change in life. But for almost 30 years, I had one certainty: from Monday through Friday, at 6:30 p.m. on the dot, I would sit next to Maria Elena Salinas to host Noticiero Univision together. Even if the world was coming to an end, she would be there.”

The renowned journalist surprised many when she announced on-air Aug. 3 that she would be leaving the network after 36 years. “I have decided it is time to change course and begin a new chapter in my career as an independent journalist and producer and dedicate more time to philanthropy,” Salinas wrote on social media. “I am excited about this new phase where I will be working on projects that will allow me to reach new and diverse audiences across multiple platforms.”

After receiving a heartfelt tribute at Univision in her last week, which included the special “Maria Elena, Always” that aired on Dec. 10 recognizing her contributions as a journalist, Salinas is entering a new stage of her career, but will still grace the small screen in her English-language series The Real Story with María Elena Salinas on the Investigation Discovery (ID) channel.

In his letter, Ramos also celebrated a friendship with Salinas that grew stronger over the years. “We lived together the births of her daughters Julia and Gabriela and of my kids Paola and Nicolás, the deaths of her mother and my father, the difficult investigation of her father’s life (who was once a priest), divorces and new relationships, changes in Univision’s owners, and a lot of news that shook the planet,” he wrote, “And through all that, we stayed together.”

Ramos concluded that the secret to their enduring on-screen chemistry, which abided longer than many marriages, was mutual respect.