What were José Alberto Suárez, the Florida-based Telemundo executive, and Ecuador’s intelligence chief Michele Sensi-Contugi doing while traveling together as part of a private trip in Kenya. There is no credible reporting at this point that Suárez was on an intelligence or government mission with Sensi-Contugi.
Here’s what is known so far:
- Suárez, 55, was president and general manager of Telemundo stations in Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers–Naples. NBCUniversal confirmed his death.
- Sensi-Contugi, Ecuador's director of its National Intelligence Center, was also killed, along with his wife, Stephany Hollihan. Ecuadorian officials said he was traveling in Kenya as a tourist.
- The helicopter was carrying six passengers and a pilot and crashed at about 9:13 a.m. Wednesday in Samburu County while traveling from the Loisaba Conservancy toward the Ewaso Nyiro area.
- The helicopter had been chartered by luxury safari operator &Beyond, which acknowledged that the aircraft was carrying its guests.
- Five U.S. citizens were among the seven people killed. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash.
The striking fact isn't simply that a Telemundo GM and an intelligence chief died in the same crash. It's why a sitting Ecuadorian intelligence director and a senior American television executive were passengers on the same private safari helicopter in Kenya.
At this moment, I don't see reliable reporting establishing that they knew each other, that Suárez was working for Ecuador, that the trip had a governmental purpose, or that their presence together was anything other than coincidence within a luxury safari group.
That distinction is important. The intelligence chief's position makes the coincidence intriguing, but it isn't evidence of a covert operation.
And there is another wrinkle: the five Americans have not all been publicly identified in the strongest early reporting, so the circumstances and relationships among the passengers may become clearer as Kenyan and U.S. authorities release more information.
If you're thinking about this journalistically, I'd watch the passenger manifest, the &Beyond booking information, Suárez's itinerary, and Sensi-Contugi's official travel purpose very closely. Those could answer the "why were these two men together?"
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/helicopter-crash-kenya-deaths-us-journalis…
