Juan Carlos López is an anchor and chief correspondent for CNN en Español based in Washington, D.C., and has worked as a CNN reporter since 1993. Currently, López hosts Directo USA, a daily program covering the most compelling news stories in the United States, featuring interviews and in-depth analysis of how these events impact audiences across the Americas. He also hosts Choque de Opiniones, a Sunday program featuring dynamic, engaging, and informative discussions with special guests. López broadcasts from Washington, D.C.

Since joining CNN en Español in 2000, López has reported on major events, including the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York, the custody dispute between Cuba and the United States over young Elián González, the removal of protesters from the U.S. Navy training range on the island of Vieques, and the United Nations Millennium Summit. Additionally, he reported from the Republican campaign headquarters in Austin, Texas, on the night of the historic 2000 U.S. presidential election and covered the controversial, protracted vote recount in Florida. López has covered stories of international significance—such as U.S. elections and the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti—as well as UN meetings leading up to the Iraq War, reporting from Kuwait during the conflict itself. He also covered then-President George W. Bush’s 2006 visit to Colombia and President Barack Obama’s visit to Latin America as part of the White House press corps.

Notable among his excellent interviews from Washington, D.C., are those with then-U.S. President Barack Obama, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, then-Senator Mel Martinez, and numerous sitting senators—such as Robert Menendez, Marco Rubio, Harry Reid, and John McCain—as well as then-U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, U.S. First Ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush, and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, among others. Since 2000, López has covered Democratic and Republican conventions, as well as presidential inaugurations in Washington, D.C. He has interviewed the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, filmmaker Oliver Stone, deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, then-Interim President Roberto Micheletti, and Juan Orlando Hernández, as well as other heads of state—such as Ollanta Humala of Peru—and former leaders like José Mujica of Uruguay, Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, Vicente Fox of Mexico, and Ricardo Martinelli of Panama.

López is the lead political anchor for CNN en Español and has spearheaded Voto Latino, the network’s U.S. election coverage, since 2012.

Before becoming a permanent correspondent, López collaborated with CNN en Español and CNN International, covering various events from Colombia. He also participated in CNN’s International Professionals Program and was a regular contributor to the CNN World Report program.

Previously, López worked as a news anchor and reporter for Noticiero de las 7 on Cadena 1 in Bogotá. Among other events, he covered the Armenia earthquake and the mass kidnapping by leftist rebels in Cali, Colombia. He also worked as a reporter for WLTV Channel 23 in Miami, where he was nominated for an Emmy Award for a special series. López received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Anchor for his coverage of the election of Pope Francis—an event for which CNN en Español was nominated for Best Breaking News Coverage—and he won an Emmy as a correspondent for Panorama Mundial, which was recognized as Best Newscast.

Born in Bogotá, Colombia, López holds a journalism degree from the Universidad Javeriana in that city. He also pursued studies at Gabriel García Márquez’s Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano in Cartagena, Colombia, and at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. He speaks Spanish and English.