''El Mercurio'' (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an newspaper with editions in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...

and it is considered the oldest daily in the

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

currently in circulation. ''El Mercurio'' is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P. (''Sociedad Anónima Periodística'' 'joint stock news company'), which operates a network of 19 regional dailies and 32 radio stations across the country.

History

The

edition of ''El Mercurio'' was founded by

Pedro Félix Vicuña Pedro Félix Vicuña Aguirre (February 21, 1805, Santiago, Chile – May 24, 1874, Santiago) was a Chilean journalist and one of the founders in 1827 of the newspaper ''El Mercurio de Valparaíso'', the oldest existing newspaper in Spanish lang ...

( Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna's father) on September 12, 1827, and was later acquired by

Agustín Edwards Ross Agustín Edwards Ross (February 17, 1852 – November 1, 1897) was a Chilean businessman and politician. Edwards served as the President of the Senate of Chile from 1893 through 1895. He was the son of Agustín Edwards Ossandón and Juana Ross ...

in 1880. The Santiago edition was founded by

Agustín Edwards Mac Clure Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include: Given name * Agustín (footballer), Spanish footballer * Agustín Calleri (born 1976), Argentine tennis player * Agustín Cá ...

, son of Edwards Ross, on June 1, 1900. In 1942 Edwards Mac Clure died and his son

Agustín Edwards Budge Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include: Given name * Agustín (footballer), Spanish footballer * Agustín Calleri (born 1976), Argentine tennis player * Agustín Cár ...

took over as president. When Edwards Budge died in 1956, his son,

Agustín Edwards Eastman Agustín Iván Edmundo Edwards Eastman (24 November 1927 – 24 April 2017) was a Chilean newspaper publisher, and one of the richest people in Chile. He inherited his family's newspaper company El Mercurio SAP, which publishes Chile's leading n ...

, took control of the company. Edwards Eastman died in 2017, leaving the company in hands of his son Cristián Edwards del Río. El Mercurio SAP owns the Chilean afternoon daily newspaper ''

La Segunda ''La Segunda'' ( es, The second one) is a Chilean afternoon daily newspaper, owned by El Mercurio SAP. Their tendency is conservative, is the first Chilean newspaper to disclose information that occurred in the morning because it is evening. Its ...

'', which published news with sensationalist and confrontational language that was considered inappropriate for ''El Mercurio''.

CIA funding

''El Mercurio'' received funds from the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

in the early 1970s to undermine the Socialist government of Salvador Allende, acting as a mouthpiece for anti-Allende

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

. Declassified documents that detail US interventions in Chile revealed the paper's role, and the extent of the paper’s cooperation with the CIA: Support reached to the highest levels of the US government. When the paper requested significant funds for covert support in September 1971, “...in a rare example of presidential micromanagement of a covert operation,

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

personally authorized the $700,000—and more if necessary—in covert funds to ''El Mercurio''.” (p. 93)

Role in 1973 coup d'état

The paper played "a significant role in setting the stage for the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

" which took place on 11 September 1973, bringing General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

to power. It mobilised opponents of President

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

and the gremialismo movement to be active in destabilisation from the street, while also advocating the neoliberal policies of the yet-to-come Chicago Boys.

1988 to the present

Former journalists of ''El Mercurio'' have been crucial in the creation of various new newspapers in Chile including ''

Diario Financiero ''Diario Financiero'' is a Chilean economic newspaper founded by a group of journalists from the Economy and Business Corps of El Mercurio on October 25, 1988. It is currently controlled by the Claro Group. The tabloid has been using the orange p ...

'' in 1988, ''

El Líbero El Líbero is a Chilean online newspaper formed in 2014. Its founders include journalist and former editor of ''Investigation and Politics'' of ''El Mercurio'' Eduardo Sepúlveda, the commercial engineer Carlos Kubick O., José Antonio Guzmán ...

'' in 2014, and '' Ex-Ante'' in 2020.January 22, 2021
¿Quiénes están detrás del medio digital Ex-Ante?
''ilustrado.cl'' ''El Mercurio's'' building in Valparaíso was set on fire by protesters in October 2019 during the 2019 Chilean protests sparked by rise in transportation cost.

References

*CIA article ''"Report of CIA Chilean Task Force Activities, 15 September to 3 November 1970"'' (November 18, 1970)
Report from CIA's 1970 Anti-Allende Task Force

External links