La República Editor Dies at 52

Franklin Herrera, editor of the daily La República, died Sunday of a heart attack while hiking Turrialba Volcano, on the Caribbean slope. He was 52.

Herrera worked at La República for seven years in various roles, including editor of the opinion pages, where he published a weekly column. He loved literature and the outdoors, and was finishing a three-day excursion to Turrialba Volcano when he suffered a heart attack during the descent, according to the daily.

Born in Guadalupe, east of San José, he studied Spanish philology at the University of Costa Rica. Before joining the staff of La República, he was editor of the weekly Esta Semana and head of editorial content at the non-governmental organization Communication Initiatives for Development.

Luis Alberto Muñoz, director of the newspaper, said in the paper’s own obituary that Herrera “fought with sincerity for the improvement of Costa Rican society… (He was) an active critic of inequality and defender of the purest democratic values.”

Muñoz called Herrera’s death a “loss for journalism in this country.”

He is survived by his wife, Delia Mora, and two daughters, ages 19 and 22, according to La Nación.

The funeral took place Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Cementerio de la Piedad in Moravia, north of San José, according to a statement from the Journalists’ Association.