Remembering our colleague and friend Marty Delfín

With the heaviest of hearts, the team at the English Edition of EL PAÍS would like to inform our readers that we have lost one of our most beloved colleagues, Marty Delfín, after a two-year battle against a number of different illnesses.

Marty, who was just 54, has worked with us since 2005, in the days of the print edition published as a supplement to the Herald Tribune, when he came on board as a specialist in Latin America, which was his main field of expertise.

But as well as being a great journalist to work with, Marty was, more than anything else, a fantastic friend to all of us. Always joking, seldom sullen and invariably outrageous, Marty was always the life of the party and managed to bring that infectious enthusiasm and positive spirit with him to the office.

How tragic then, that two years ago he began to run into health problems. After an absence of several months, he rejoined the team – albeit working from home – and we were much the better for his presence. But things once again took a turn for the worse in February of this year, until his passing in the early hours of June 21, 2016.

The EL PAÍS English Edition team past and present would like to convey our deepest sympathies to Marty’s friends and family. He will be sorely missed by all of us.