By Alexandra Navarro Clifton, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Jorge Ramos' bosses didn't want their star anchor covering the war in Afghanistan on the ground. Too dangerous, they said.

Ramos took a two-week vacation -- and went anyway.

For millions of Spanish-language television viewers, Ramos is the voice of authority, a newsman with a reputation that rivals that of Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw or Dan Rather.

For 17 years, Ramos has been the Miami-based anchor of the Univision network's nightly news. For the past four weeks, he's been stationed in Kuwait, the fifth war assignment of his career.

"I've never seen a level of support within the Hispanic community and within my own company to cover this war," Ramos, 45, said in an interview by satellite phone. "It is truly amazing."

Born in Mexico, Ramos is the oldest of five siblings. Blue-eyed and athletic, he dreamed of being an Olympic athlete until a spinal injury steered him to journalism.

He moved to the United States in 1983 after the Mexican government tried to censor one of his news broadcasts. He arrived in Los Angeles speaking little English. He worked as a waiter before landing a job at Univision. Since moving to Miami, he's had two children and written four books, including an autobiography.

Besides covering wars in El Salvador and Kosovo as well as the first Gulf War, he's interviewed world leaders, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and President Bush.

This war is different, Ramos says. Satellites and other advances in camera and communication technology make it more up-close.

Every day, Ramos and his crew in Kuwait cross the border into Iraq to do some reporting, then return to edit their stories. He finishes his last live report at about 3 a.m. Kuwait time, then sleeps about four hours and gets up to do it all over again. Always with gusto.

"We are living on adrenaline and emotion," Ramos said. "Eventually it will catch up with me and I will collapse on a beach in Miami. But as a reporter, what else can you ask for than to be in a place where history is being made?"