Maria Santana

Anchor and Correspondent, CNN en Español

Maria Santana is a New York based anchor and correspondent for CNN En Español and frequent contributor to all CNN networks and platforms.
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631784 CNN NY Talent Expansion HY, Maria Santana

Latest

From top left to right, Miguel Luna, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval and Dorlian Castillo Cabrera. From bottom left to right, Jose Mynor Lopez, Carlos Hernández and Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes
Obtained by CNN
An international tragedy: A father of 3 and a budding entrepreneur are among 6 victims of the Baltimore bridge collapse
May 10, 2024
They worked the overnight shift fixing potholes on a famed bridge that 30,000 Marylanders relied on every day. But their work ended in tragedy March 26, when a 213-million-pound cargo vessel crashed into the bridge – plunging the construction workers into the frigid water below.
The fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore is pictured Sunday, March 31, 2024, where divers assisted crews with the complicated and meticulous operation of removing steel and concrete. (AP Photos/Mike Pesoli)
Mike Pesoli/AP
Dive team recovers body at site of Baltimore bridge collapse as search continues for 3 others
Apr 6, 2024
Crews on Friday recovered the body of a third construction worker who died in the collapse of a bridge in Baltimore as divers continue searching for additional victims who officials believe are trapped under the wreckage.
Signage is displayed outside of a Hertz Global Holdings Inc. rental car and sales location in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015.
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg/Getty Images/FILE
Hertz apologizes after refusing rental to Puerto Rican
May 17, 2023
Hertz has apologized to a Puerto Rican customer after one of its employees refused to rent him a car he had paid for in advance because he did not show her his passport.
Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely, pictured here in 2009, was killed after a passenger on a New York City subway restrained him in a chokehold.
Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service/Getty Images
Before fatal subway chokehold, Jordan Neely was on NYC’s list of homeless individuals with dire needs
May 8, 2023
Jordan Neely, the man who died last week after being held in a chokehold on a New York City subway, was on a list of homeless people identified as having dire needs, according to a source familiar with his case.
Jordan Neely is pictured before going to see the Michael Jackson movie, "This is It," outside the Regal Cinemas in Times Square in 2009.
Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service/Getty Images/File
Man dies after being put in a chokehold by another rider on New York City subway, officials say. The DA is investigating
May 5, 2023
After his mother was murdered in 2007, Jordan Neely eked out a living as a well-known Michael Jackson impersonator in Times Square and on New York’s subways.
FILE - Mexico's Secretary of Public Safety Genaro García Luna attends a news conference on the sidelines of an American Police Community meeting in Mexico City, Oct. 8, 2010. The former Mexican presidential cabinet member was convicted in the U.S., Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, of taking massive bribes to protect the violent drug cartels he was tasked with combating. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)
Marco Ugarte/AP
Genaro García Luna, former Mexican public security secretary, convicted in US of taking bribes from drug cartels
Feb 22, 2023
Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former public security secretary and architect of its deadly and protracted war on drugs, was found guilty in federal court in New York on Tuesday of taking bribes from the drug cartels he had sworn to combat, the US Attorney’s Office said.
Mexico City, MEXICO: Mexican Federal Public Security Secretary Genaro Garcia answers questions during a press conference with international correspondents in Mexico City 17 May 2007. Garcia informed about the results of the struggle against drug-trafficking in the country. AFP PHOTO/Ronaldo SCHEMIDT (Photo credit should read Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images)
• Video 4:45
RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
El Gobierno de EE.UU hizo un ‘pacto con el diablo", dice defensa de Genaro García Luna 4:45
Feb 21, 2023
El jurado alcanzó un veredicto este martes y encontró culpable a Genaro García Luna, exsecretario de Seguridad Pública de México, de los cinco cargos que se le imputan entre los que se encuentran cuatro acusaciones de narcotráfico y una por mentir en sus declaraciones a las autoridades migratorias. El exfuncionario se declaró inocente de todos los cargos y puede apelar el fallo. María Santana habló con César de Castro, abogado de García Luna, a las afueras de la corte en Nueva York y tiene toda la información en este informe.
The migrants gather outside the church on Wednesday, September 14.
Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/AP
The man who recruited migrants for flights to Martha’s Vineyard says he feels betrayed
Sep 27, 2022
The migrant had been living on the streets of San Antonio, Texas, for nearly a month when he met a woman named “Perla” who made a compelling offer.
FILE PHOTO: Venezuelan migrants stand outside St. Andrew's Church in Edgartown, Massachusetts, U.S. September 14, 2022. Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
• Video 4:31
Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette/Reuters
He helped recruit migrants to go to Martha’s Vineyard. Why he now regrets his actions 4:31
Sep 26, 2022
CNN’s Maria Santana speaks with a man who says he feels “betrayed” after a woman named Perla told him he could help fellow migrants travel to Massachusetts.
The brochure, which has now been posted by the legal group representing many of the cases, features a photo of what appears to be a road sign that reads "Massachusetts Welcomes You" and a photo of an nondescript lighthouse. CNN obscured parts of this image to remove the phone numbers.
Lawyers for Civil Rights
Attorneys for migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard looking into origination of brochures they believe were handed out under ‘false pretenses’
Sep 20, 2022
Attorneys for many of the nearly 50 migrants who landed unexpectedly in Martha’s Vineyard said Monday that brochures given to their clients were “highly misleading” and “used to entice (their) clients to travel under the guise that (resettlement) support was available to them.”
Immigrants gather with their belongings outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Wednesday Sept. 14, 2022, in Edgartown, Mass., on Martha's Vineyard. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha's Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration's failed border policies. (Ray Ewing/Vineyard Gazette via AP)
Ray Ewing/AP
Attorneys representing more than 30 migrants flown to Massachusetts urge criminal investigations
Sep 18, 2022
Attorneys representing more than 30 of the migrants flown to Massachusetts this week asked the US Attorney for Massachusetts and the state’s attorney general to open criminal investigations into the flights.
Ron DeSantis File 0916
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
Florida budget language that created migrant relocation program would not permit DeSantis’ Massachusetts flights stunt
Sep 17, 2022
The budget language that appropriated the money for Florida’s migrant relocation program would not permit two flights this week, for which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has claimed credit, or the relocation of some of the migrants recruited for them, CNN has learned.
maneskin wide shot vpx
Maneskin on feeling free, finding fame and embarking on their first world tour
Jul 31, 2022
No matter how you pronounce their name, Italian rock group Maneskin may be one of today’s most famous and successful global musical acts.
maneskin vpx
• Video 3:26
Måneskin explains why Eurovision changed their future 3:26
Jul 31, 2022
CNN’s Maria Santana talks to the members of Måneskin about their past successes and what could be next for the Italian rock band.
Cell service is still out for most of Puerto Rico
Oct 3, 2017
Federal officials say that 88.8% of cell sites on the island were still without service as of Sunday.

About

Maria Santana is a New York based anchor and correspondent for CNN En Español and frequent contributor to all CNN networks and platforms. She is a three-time News and Documentary Emmy nominee, most recently for CNN’s 2017 coverage of the devastating impact of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Maria is a versatile, bilingual, multi-platform journalist who handles a wide range of topics, from breaking news, politics and finance to sports and entertainment. In 2016, she reported extensively on the mood of Latino voters in different parts of the country ahead of the 2016 presidential election and continues to highlight the policy issues that most affect these communities, including the continuing political debate over immigration reform.

Maria has also reported on major news events such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the Boston Marathon bombings and the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly.

Before joining CNN, Maria was a correspondent for Mega TV, a Spanish Broadcasting Systems network, and a producer and editor at Telemundo, WNJU-TV, where she started her journalism career.

Maria is also on the Board of Directors of Legal Outreach, Inc., a non-profit organization

focused on changing the educational trajectory of urban youth from underserved New York City communities by providing them with the tools, skills and vision to succeed in higher education. Born in the Dominican Republic, Maria moved to New York at the age of 4 and grew up in Harlem. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University with a major in Psychology.