Background
Balmaseda was born in Puerto Padre, Cuba amidst the Cuban Revolution. Her family emigrated to the United States, and she grew up in Miami, Florida.
Balmaseda was born in Puerto Padre, Cuba amidst the Cuban Revolution. Her family emigrated to the United States, and she grew up in Miami, Florida.
Associate of Arts, Miami Dade Community College, Florida, 1979. Bachelor of Science in Communications, Florida International University, 1981.
She received an associate"s degree from Miami-Dade Community College, and then a bachelor"s degree from Florida International University in communications in 1981. She had been an intern for the Miami Herald in 1980, and was hired upon her graduation in 1981 to write for El Herald, the Miami Herald"s Spanish-language sister paper. She worked in this and several other reporting assignments at the Herald until 1985, when she left to become Central America bureau chief, based in El Salvador, for Newsweek.
She moved to National Broadcasting Company News as a field producer based in Honduras before returning to The Miami Herald in November 1987 as a feature writer
Her second was awarded for breaking-news reporting in 2001, for her role in covering the story of Elián González.