Investigative Journalist and Emmy Award Winning Documentalist with interests in Corruption, Narco-Terrorism, US-LatAm, Venezuela.
My Story
Casto Ocando is an investigative reporter with a career that has spanned for more than 20 years in Hispanic media in Latin America and the US, specializing in corruption, drug trafficking, human trafficking, immigration and Latin American issues, specially Venezuelan affairs, where he’s from.
Currently Ocando is Editor in Chief of the independent news site PrimerInforme.com, focused in Latin American issues, especially Venezuelan affairs, since 2019; and President of the Venezuelan American Archives Foundation, established in 2019.
Between 2014 until mid 2019, Ocando worked as a freelance investigative reporter, and participated in investigative projects like the Venezuelan Pdvsa’s Corruption Network, the Latin American connections of the Venezuelan Corruption and more recently, Cubazuela, Chronicle of the Cuban Invasion to Venezuela, among other projects.
Ocando also worked as an investigative reporter and news consultant for Univision Network between April, 2011 to August, 2014.
As a member of the Univision Investiga unit, he co-produced several of the most important investigative pieces, including a hour-length documentary about Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo Guzmán (The Eternal Fugituve), that won an Emmy Award in 2014. Also co-produced two one-hour special shows about the secret operations of the Iranian government in Latin America, entitled La Amenaza Iraní (The Iranian Threat) and an investigation about arms trafficking from the US to Mexico and the connections with the Mexican drug cartels, called Rápido y Furioso, Armando al Enemigo (Fast and Furious, Arming the Enemy).
In January 2012, a month after La Amenaza Iraní was broadcasted, the US government expelled a Venezuelan diplomat who was featured in the documentary, based in the reporting for the program that revealed she was involved in a conspiracy to ciber-attack several US federal agencies.
Rápido y Furioso was awarded this year with the prestigious Peabody Awards, the oldest and most selective award in electronic media. Also won an award for best large broadcast video from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).
Previously, Ocando worked for The Miami Herald Media Company from 2001 to 2010, reporting investigative pieces covering Latin America and Hispanics affairs.
His reporting at El Nuevo Herald won several awards, among them the Benjamin Spears