Hatzel Vela is an award-winning journalist and politics reporter for NBC6. Fully bilingual, he will also contribute to NBC6 sister station Telemundo 51. Vela joined the team in April of 2024, but debuted on-air in September 2024.
Prior to NBC6, Vela spent ten years at WPLG-Local 10 in Miami. In January 2017, Vela was the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside.
During his time living and working on the island, he covered some of the most significant stories in post-Fidel Castro Cuba, including an exclusive interview with Mariela Castro, daughter of President Raul Castro. He also lived through and covered a category 5 Hurricane Irma as it battered the island, and reported on the damage left behind.
Prior to moving to Cuba and after the U.S. and Cuba renewed diplomatic relations in December 2014, Vela covered several of the major stories from the communist island, including the historic visits of Pope Francis in 2015 and President Barack Obama in 2016.
Vela was one of the first to report the death of Cuban President Fidel Castro, then eight hours later was on the ground in Havana gathering reaction from the Cuban people.
After returning from Cuba in the fall of 2019, Vela took on the education beat and covered many of the big issues facing local students and educators during the pandemic.
Prior to moving back to South Florida, Vela worked at WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, where he was part of an Emmy Award-winning team for a special on the election of Pope Francis. He was also nominated for an Emmy for his work on immigration, a beat he created for himself.
Before Washington, he was a reporter at ABC affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix. There he covered the immigration protests that followed the passing of one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration measures at the state level, the shooting in Tucson that injured U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six and closely followed the federal bench trial of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Vela started his on-air reporting career in Charleston, South Carolina at WCSC-TV, the CBS affiliate.
Born in Nicaragua, Vela migrated to the U.S. as a child and grew up in a bilingual household in Miami. He is a graduate of Miami Coral Park Senior High School and received his Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Florida International University (FIU).
The Latest
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Floridians may soon pay less in sales tax: House Speaker on his plan for financial relief
Financial relief could be on the way for millions of Floridians and state visitors by way of a sales tax cut.
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Hialeah complies with DOGE efforts, will let state analyze city budget
The city of Hialeah on Tuesday approved a resolution that supports Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ establishment of the Executive Office of the Governor Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team.
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Beloved Miami-Dade teacher shares what life is like after deportation
Wualner Sauceda showed off the many letters he received from colleagues and students. “Mr. Sauceda, you were my favorite teacher and still are,” he read out loud from his Honduran home located in a tiny town three hours northeast of the country’s capital Tegucigalpa. Many of the students he left behind used the letters to express how much they...
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EXCLUSIVE: School teacher speaks of heartache, family separation after deportation
A young Miami-Dade school teacher was detained and deported, and many were wondering how and why it happened. NBC6’s Hatzel Vela traveled to Honduras for answers
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EXCLUSIVE: Hialeah teacher deported to Honduras tells his story
On Feb. 6, Wualner Sauceda was deported to his native Honduras. His story first surfaced the very same day he was deported. That Thursday, at a news conference, the Miami-Dade Teachers Union leadership tried to quell fears, assuring the public that Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids had not taken place at schools. At that point, very little was known about…
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Family says Venezuelan man deported, accused of being gang member has no criminal history
A federal judge pressed a Department of Justice lawyer Monday over why the Trump administration ignored his order regarding the deportation of hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members. And now officials say that those deported may have been charged with crimes, but not necessarily convicted. One family in Venezuela is wondering why a loved one was sent to El Salvador…
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State commission finds former Broward school board member did not violate ethics rules
The Florida Ethics Commission cleared former Broward School Board Member Torey Alston on Wednesday after fellow school board Allen Zeman filed a complaint accusing Alston of using “public office for private gain.”
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Video captures ‘vicious' and ‘unprovoked' attack outside Miramar store: Police
Miramar Police released new video Wednesday that shows a “vicious attack” with the hopes the public can help identify the attacker.
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Florida leads nation in pending immigration cases
The Donald Trump administration recently fired more than a dozen immigration judges, actions that experts say contradict a need for more judges given the millions of cases pending in immigration courts across the country.
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Following immigration judge firings, questions loom over massive court backlogs
More than a dozen immigration judges were fired by the Trump administration, and many are wondering how this could impact the major problem of massive case backlog in immigration courts.
