Rafael David Poleo Isava (born 19 September 1937) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n journalist and politician. He is the editor and proprietor of the newspaper '' El Nuevo País'', which he founded in 1988, and of the political magazine ''Zeta'' (named for the 1969 film '' Z''), which he founded in 1973., '' Producto'', March 2010
Polémico Poleo
, accessed 3 June 2012 Previously he was the director of '' El Mundo'' (appointed by Miguel Ángel Capriles Ayala at the age of 23, c. 1960) director of RCTV's news division for six years, and the founding editor of

Bloque De Armas Bloque De Armas is a Venezuelan media company. Among other properties it owns the newspapers ''Diario 2001'' and '' Diario Meridiano'' and the sports network Meridiano Televisión. The company was created in 1969 as a holding company for the vario ...

' ''

Diario 2001 ''2001'' (''Diario 2001'') is a Venezuelan newspaper. It was established by Bloque De Armas in 1973, Bloque De ArmasHistoria launching its first edition on 2 July 1973 under the directorship of Rafael Poleo. Andrés Bello Catholic UniversityDi ...

'', launched in 1973. He was at one time a member of the

Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies () was the lower house of Venezuela's legislative under its 1961 constitution; the Venezuelan Senate was the upper house. Under the 1999 constitution, the bicameral system was replaced by the unicameral National Assembly o ...

for Democratic Action, and was elected to the

Venezuelan Senate The Senate of Venezuela was the upper house of Venezuela's legislature under its 1961 constitution. Under the 1999 constitution, the bicameral system was replaced by the unicameral National Assembly of Venezuela. However, since 1999 the former cham ...

in the 1998 election. '' El País'', 25 April 2002
'Chávez está en libertad provisional'
/ref> In 1991 Poleo published accusations of corruption against then-President Carlos Andrés Pérez, with ''El Nuevo País'' publishing a copy of a $400m cheque which it said had been deposited at the Bank of Credit and Commerce International in New York in the name of Pérez' mistress, Cecilia Matos. Poleo fled Venezuela after being warned by a Congressman that the

DISIP DISIP (General Sectoral Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services) was an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency inside and outside of Venezuela between 1969 and 2009 when SEBIN was created by former President Hugo Chavez. DISIP was ...

secret police were going to kill him. The evening after his departure, his house was attacked and ransacked, and a military intelligence agent guarding it killed. An arrest warrant was then issued for Poleo, accusing him of staging the attack and killing the guard. Poleo continued to contribute columns to ''El Nuevo País'' and ''Zeta'' from exile in Florida. Poleo was only able to return in June 1993, after Andrés Pérez had been charged with corruption and temporarily left office, with the new government dropping the charges against Poleo.Roberto Fabricio, ''

Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'', 27 June 1993
Venezuelan Exile Returns To Caracas
/ref> Pérez' temporary removal from office was made permanent in August 1993, and he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 28 months' imprisonment in 1996.Kada, Naoko (2003), "Impeachment as a punishment for corruption? The cases of Brazil and Venezuela", in Jody C. Baumgartner, Naoko Kada (eds, 2003), ''Checking executive power: presidential impeachment in comparative perspective'', Greenwood Publishing Group Poleo left Venezuela for Florida a second time after charges were brought over remarks he made in a ''

Globovisión Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite (Globovisión has an alliance with Dire ...

'' television programme in 2008. On 13 October 2008 on ''

Aló Ciudadano ''Aló Ciudadano'' (') was a Venezuelan talk show hosted by Leopoldo Castillo as the opposition counterpart of ''Aló Presidente'' launched by Hugo Chávez government in 1999. It was aired both on the Globovisión 24-hour television news network ...

'' he said'' "I am concerned that Hugo (Chávez) may end his days like Mussolini did: hanging heels over head." ''According to '' El Universal'', "Government officials branded such remarks as solicitation to assassination, civil disobedience and rebellion against the public powers."'' El Universal'', 24 July 2009
International bodies criticize attacks on Venezuelan media
Poleo has four children, three of them active in the field of journalism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poleo, Rafael 1937 births Living people Venezuelan journalists Members of the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies Members of the Senate of Venezuela Democratic Action (Venezuela) politicians