The director of Brazil's Estado de S. Paulo newspaper has died of cancer. Ruy Mesquita was 88.
The newspaper reports that Mesquita died Tuesday night at Sao Paulo's Sirio-Libanes Hospital, where he was being treated for cancer at the base of his tongue.
O Estado is one of South America's largest and most respected dailies, with a daily circulation of 235,000. It's the flagship of a group that includes the Eldorado radio station and the Agencia Estado news agency.
The newspaper has always been a staunch defender of press freedom. During the 1964-1085 dictatorship it published poems and recipes whenever censors banned stories.
Mesquita is survived by his wife, Laura, three sons, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandson.
