SILENT KEY

[IK0ZCW]

Reinaldo Leandro Rodriguez, YV5AM (ex YV5AMH) passed away in Miami, Florida on 23 May aged 79. A career diplomat for 36 years, he was a consul in France and the United States, as well as the Venezuelan ambassador to Nicaragua, Panama, Finland, Belgium, Argentina and the Vatican City.
First licensed in 1960, he joined IARU Region 2 in 1998 and held several positions; notably he served as the president of the Executive Committee from 2007 to 2019. An avid DXer with 338/352 current/total Entities in the DXCC Mixed, he was also a successful contester, especially in the M/M category with the YW4M and YV4A teams in the CQ WW WPX SSB and CQ WW DX SSB contests. Besides operating as /W5, /I0, /OH2, /OH0, /LU, YN1AM and HP1YV, he participated in four DXpeditions to Aves Island - YV0AA (1984), YX0AI (1992), YV0D (2004) and YX0A/YX0LIX (2006) - and in several IOTA operations from Venezuelan islands.