SANTO DOMINGO. — Andrés Matos, known as “Licho”, was a prominent communicator, political leader, and former deputy of the National District, whose career was closely linked to the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), the subsequently created Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), and important figures in Dominican politics.
Matos developed part of his career in the media, especially through the program “Tribuna Democrática”, a space from which he actively participated in the national political debate and witnessed some of the most emblematic interventions of the late PRD leader José Francisco Peña Gómez.
Affable in manner, but with a firm and energetic voice, he shared political days for years alongside leaders such as Tony Raful and the late Príamo Medina, becoming linked to a generation of communicators who used the media as a platform for the dissemination and defense of their political ideas.
Read more: Former deputy, political leader, and communicator Andrés (Licho) Matos passes away
Deputy and political leader
His political participation led him to occupy a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, where he represented constituency number three of the National District for the PRD more than two decades ago.
Matos maintained his political commitment even during difficult periods for his organization. Although, according to those close to his career, he was marginalized during the Hipólito Mejía administration, he continued working for the political cause he defended.
Subsequently, he joined Mejía’s presidential project and assumed responsibilities in the communications area. He was one of the first leaders to join the Modern Revolutionary Party, an organization in which he maintained active participation.
His closeness to Mejía strengthened over the years and he came to serve as spokesperson and press director for his political project, in addition to acting as a unifying element within his sector.
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Communication as the main tool
The word and communication were two of Matos’ main tools throughout his public career. His presence on television and his participation in political spaces allowed him to remain active during different stages of national political life.
Over the years, he remained linked to political communication until the arrival of the PRM to power with Luis Abinader as the presidential candidate.
In the governmental sphere, he held the position of Director of Communications for the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), from where he was linked to the institutional communication strategy of that agency.
Final years and death
In his final years, Matos faced health problems that reduced his participation in political and professional activities.
The leader passed away while receiving medical attention at a health center in the National District, where he had been staying due to the ailments he had been suffering from for some time.
The death of Andrés “Licho” Matos represents a loss for the Dominican communication and political sectors, areas in which he developed much of his life and from which he left a trajectory marked by his participation in the media, the National Congress, party organizations, and public administration.
