Viva La Juventud

Guillermo “Fantástico” González, the one who started it

The name this entry was missing is that of the one who started it. “Viva la Juventud” was the show with which Guillermo José Manuel González Regalado —Guillermo “Fantástico” González— made his debut as a host in 1976, in a contest aimed at high school students. He was joined first by the singer Raquel Castaños and later by Carmen Victoria Pérez, the pair confirmed by the channel's programming card and who appear in the photograph of the “Libretas de la Juventud,” each one holding up the other's.

It is no minor detail for this Archive. Three years later, in 1979, the same host premiered “Fantástico,” the marathon Saturday show that carried his nickname and within which lived the “Ranking Musical Fantástico,” the youth segment later called “La Linoteca,” which set up the country's best minitecas on its studio floor. The movement's two television showcases —Viva la Juventud and La Linoteca— came from the same hand. He has an entry of his own in the Voices collection of this Archive.

Those who fronted it

The hosting changed hands several times over the life of the show. Guillermo “Fantástico” González started it, joined by Carmen Victoria Pérez. In the period recording that accompanies this entry, Judith Castillo also appears alongside Guillermo. Later Waldemaro Martínez took the front, and finally Judith Castillo was left fronting it.

The show's best-documented link with miniteca history is precisely the figure of Waldemaro Martínez, one of the most sought-after announcers as the voice of the country's leading minitecas. His participation in Viva La Juventud shows him in the television side of a career that, in parallel, made him the voice of countless jingles, promos and mobile sound presentations.

Judith Castillo, for her part, is a name that recurs in RCTV's youth slots of those years: the write-up on the “La Linoteca” video places her paired with Lino Ferrer hosting that music show, the minitecas' other television showcase.

Note on dates and editions

The list of RCTV shows records a contest slot called Viva la Juventud with years on the air around 1970/1976–1980, and a later 1999 version retitled Arriba Juventud. Waldemaro's own résumé, in contrast, places his participation in 1986. The difference suggests that the title had more than one edition or stage over the years; out of respect for the rule of not inventing, those dates are not unified into a single chronology: it is placed on record that Waldemaro states 1986 and that the channel's program index records an earlier cycle (the late 70s) and a later one (1999, by then as Arriba Juventud). See the entry for Arriba Juventud in this same collection.

Social media

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Credits and sources

• · Base mention in “La Revista de las Minitecas” (DJ Vladimir Medina edition), p. 48: Viva La Juventud among the shows associated with the announcer Waldemaro Martínez.
• · Biographical write-ups of Waldemaro Martínez that confirm “Viva La Juventud, transmitido por Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) en 1986” and his role as the channel's promotions announcer (1986–1990) — Locutores y Emisoras de Venezuela (locutoresyemisorasve.blogspot.com) and RossanaMusica (rossanamusica.com).
• · Index of RCTV shows, which records “Viva la Juventud” (the late 70s) and its 1999 version “Arriba Juventud” — Wikipedia (es.wikipedia.org), annex “Programas producidos y transmitidos por RCTV.”
• · Guillermo “Fantástico” González as the one who started it: Spanish Wikipedia, “Guillermo González Regalado,” which dates his debut as a host on “Viva la Juventud” to 1976 and the premiere of his Saturday show “Fantástico” to 1979. Accessed July 31, 2026.
• · Period recording: video “Viva La Juventud (RCTV)” from the channel “AJBE - Televisión venezolana” (youtu.be/lH9MoXuwm7c), verified by oEmbed on July 31, 2026.
• · Succession in the hosting (Guillermo “Fantástico” González with Carmen Victoria Pérez; Judith Castillo alongside Guillermo in the period recording; then Waldemaro Martínez; finally Judith Castillo fronting it): primary source of the CMTK Archive, verifiable in the linked video itself.
• · Under documentary verification: exact format, the years of each stage of the hosting and the relationship between the different editions of the title; the show's direct link with the exhibition of minitecas.
• · Entry compiled by the CMTK Archive (research carried out on July 10, 2026).