Abel Alvarado - News Producer, Video
Abel Alvarado
News Producer, Video
Latest
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He survived a US military boat strike. Despite a drug record, his family says he’s a fisherman caught in Trump’s war at seaOct 23, 2025The last time Andrés Fernando Tufiño Chila’s sister heard from him was about a year ago when he told her he was heading out to fish for work, she said. Last week, she was shocked to learn that her brother was aboard an alleged drug vessel that was struck by the US military. -
How Bad Bunny made Puerto Rico’s economy boom during hurricane seasonSep 14, 2025Never has Puerto Rico experienced commercial and artistic success on the scale of Bad Bunny’s residency, which began in July and ends this week. The effect has been volcanic. -
‘They stormed the place, detaining everyone’: Latinos recount huge ICE raid at Hyundai plantSep 8, 2025“I have everything (in order), I have no reason to rush,” Luz Dary Suárez’s husband told her over the phone during Thursday’s surprise immigration raid at a Hyundai manufacturing plant a quiet southeast part of Georgia. -
US sides with El Salvador on eliminating presidential term limits, prompting democracy debateAug 6, 2025The US State Department has voiced rare support for El Salvador’s decision to abolish presidential term limits, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele to seek indefinite reelection. Critics argue the controversial move undermines democratic stability. -
Drug kingpin ‘Fito,’ Ecuador’s most wanted man, has been captured, says Ecuador’s presidentJun 26, 2025Ecuador’s most wanted man and leader of the Los Choneros gang, Jose Adolfo Macias, was captured on Wednesday, according to the country’s President Daniel Noboa. -
Diego Maradona’s homicide trial declared invalid after judge filming scandalMay 29, 2025The homicide trial of Diego Maradona’s medical team for alleged malpractice was declared a mistrial by an Argentine court on Thursday. -
• For Subscribers For SubscribersFor Subscribers Pope Francis used WhatsApp to stay connected to torture survivor of Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’Apr 27, 2025At age 16, Ana María Careaga was pregnant and kidnapped during the regime of terror. Her story is one Pope Francis never forgot, sending WhatsApp voice notes and videos throughout the years to mark anniversaries. -
• For Subscribers For SubscribersFor Subscribers The ‘destiny’ hidden in Pope Francis’ soccer club cardApr 25, 2025Before he was Pope, Jorge Bergoglio was member 88235 of his beloved San Lorenzo soccer club. Now fans in Buenos Aires see a parting message in that number. -
For Subscribers On Ecuador’s cocaine coast, with a fisherman who turned to smugglingApr 21, 2025Inside the world of Ecuador’s cocaine coast, where a network built on stealth and speed helps fishermen smuggle drugs while law enforcement tries to stop them.
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• For Subscribers For SubscribersFor Subscribers The wrong tattoo can get you stopped by police. But artists in El Salvador say more people want their inkApr 14, 2025Certain tattoos associated with street gangs can get you stopped by police in El Salvador. But artists there say now more people want their ink. -
El Salvador says it shares gang intel with the US — and requests specific deporteesApr 10, 2025El Salvador says it shares intelligence with the United States about gang members wanted by the Central American nation and provides “complete records” on them before formally requesting their deportation. -
In notorious Salvadoran prison, US deportees live in identical cells to convicted gangstersApr 9, 2025CNN is the first US news organization inside Cecot prison since the latest deportation flight. -
Blackwater founder Erik Prince joins security operation in EcuadorApr 5, 2025Prince said in a video posted by Ecuador’s Defense Ministry that he was in the country “providing the law enforcement and the military the tools and the tactics to effectively combat the narco-gangs,” during Saturday’s operation. -
Ecuador is preparing for US forces, plans show, as Noboa calls for help battling gangsMar 29, 2025Construction of a new naval facility in the coastal city of Manta is designed to support sustained operations and US military personnel, according to a high-level Ecuadorian official: “The expectation is that these will be eventually occupied by US troops. -
• For Subscribers For SubscribersFor Subscribers Cocaine and bananas: Why the US may get asked to help Ecuador tackle gang violenceMar 5, 2025Gangs, drugs and public safety threats are ravaging Ecuador’s largest city and may push the president to seek help from the United States. -
Mexico’s Sheinbaum vows to protect national sovereignty as US cracks down on cartels in its territoryFeb 20, 2025Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she’ll propose reforms to the country’s constitution aiming to reinforce the nation’s sovereignty, after the US designated several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations – a move that could potentially lay the groundwork for direct US strikes inside Mexican territory.
About
Abel Alvarado is a News Producer, Video for CNN’s International News Hub based in Atlanta.
A bilingual Ecuadorian journalist with nearly 20 years of editorial experience and multiple News and Documentary Emmy Award nominations, Alvarado joined CNN’s International Video team in October 2023.
He has worked on major news stories including the death of Pope Francis in Argentina, CNN’s exclusive access to El Salvador’s maximum-security prison, Cecot, and an investigation into Chinese migrants entering the US through Ecuador without a visa. He has also reported extensively on the immigration crisis along the US-Mexico border.
In August 2025, Alvarado produced a documentary for The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper on drug trafficking in Ecuador. He also played a key role in CNN’s coverage of Ecuador’s election, securing an exclusive interview with President Daniel Noboa.
Alvarado previously worked on CNN en Español’s assignment desk, where he coordinated coverage with global bureaus, field teams and producers in addition to serving as a substitute anchor during breaking news.
In the field, he reported on major events including the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, the Haiti earthquake in 2021, the George Floyd protests in 2020, Ecuador’s protests in 2019, the Ecuador earthquake in 2016 and the refugee crisis on the Jordan-Syria border in 2013.
Prior to CNN, Alvarado briefly worked for Telemundo as a correspondent in Ecuador and spent nearly a decade as a reporter and anchor at Ecuavisa, one of the country’s leading networks.
Raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Alvarado studied International Journalism at Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo.