La Prensa (Managua)
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- For other similarly named newspapers, see La Prensa (disambiguation).
La Prensa is a Nicaraguan newspaper, with offices in the capital Managua. Its current circulation is placed at 42,000.
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[edit] History
La Prensa is owned by the Chamorro Family, a prominent Nicaraguan family with long-time ties to the Conservative Party. La Prensa was a vocal opponent of the government during the reign of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, often facing censorship from the government. In 1978, its editor Pedro Chamorro was assassinated, however even today it is unknown who was responsible for his murder. Some point the finger at Somoza's National Guard while others hold responsible the Sandinistas of his assassination. Chamorro became a martyr, and his death helped ignite widespread opposition to the Somoza government. Many of the middle and upper classes supported the Sandinista insurgency after his murder.
After the fall of the government, Chamorro's widow, Violeta served on the five member Junta of National Reconstruction. However, Chamorro and the middle-class supporters of the revolution had a different vision for the country than the Sandinistas. When it became apparent that these differences could not be resolved, Violeta Chamorro resigned from the junta in 1980 and began to oppose the Sandinistas. La Prensa's strident criticism of Sandinista policies, particularly its socialist economic policies, and its attacks on FSLN leader Daniel Ortega led the Sandinistas to adopt various restrictions on press freedom. La Prensa editors were harassed by state security, and the paper was sometimes censored or closed, altought have a significantly higher circulation, than Sandinista "Barricade" (70 thousand copies against 45 in 1986). The restrictions were lifted in a a deal between Ortega and his opponents in the run-up to the 1990 election.
Some members of the Chamorro family were unhappy with the conservative stances of the newspaper and broke away to form El Nuevo Diario, a left-leaning paper.
La Prensa received funds from the US government during the 1984 and 1990 elections, leading some left-wing authors to accuse the paper of serving as a mouthpiece of the United States government. [1] Given that La Prensa has often taken positions against the preferred line of the United States, some commentators regard these claims as exaggerated.[citation needed] [2]
[edit] Current Positions
La Prensa generally supports free market, neo-liberal economics and is largely pro-US. It is generally conservative on social issues, and identifies closely with the Catholic church (its cancellation of a weekly column written by Church theologians sparked a minor controversy). However, the paper has attacked ex-President and PLC Leader Arnoldo Alemán for corruption, opposed the political agreement between Alemán and Daniel Ortega, and challenged the perceived weak government of conservative President Enrique Bolaños. It has also challenged the outspoken comments of the current U.S. ambassador Paul Trivelli regarding Nicaraguan affairs.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.brianwillson.com/awolnicelection.html
- ^ Rockwell, Rick and Noreene Janus Media Power in Central America (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2003)
- Berman, C, Under the Big Stick (Boston:?, 1986)
- Dodd, L and L Anderson, Learning Democracy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005)
- Rockwell, R and N Janus Media Power in Central America (Chicago: University of Illanois Press, 2003)
