El Mercurio

History

The Valparaíso edition of El Mercurio was founded by Pedro Félix Vicuña (Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna's father) on 12 September 1827, and was later acquired by Agustín Edwards Ross in 1880. The Santiago edition was founded by Agustín Edwards Mac Clure, son of Edwards Ross, on 1 June 1900. In 1942 Edwards Mac Clure died and his son Agustín Edwards Budge took over as president. When Edwards Budge died in 1956, his son, Agustín Edwards Eastman, 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, which published news with sensationalist and confrontational language that was considered inappropriate for El Mercurio.

CIA funding

El Mercurio received funds from the CIA in the early 1970s to undermine the Socialist government of Salvador Allende, acting as a mouthpiece for anti-Allende propaganda.

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 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" which took place on 11 September 1973, bringing General Augusto Pinochet to power. It mobilised opponents of President Salvador Allende 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 in 1988, El Líbero in 2014, and Ex-Ante in 2020.

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" (18 November 1970). Report from CIA's 1970 Anti-Allende Task Force (Archive)

References

1. [http://foia.state.gov/Reports/ChurchReport.asp Covert Action in Chile 1963-1973.] {{Webarchive. link. (11 September 2009 , released by the [[U.S. Department of State]]; printed version: [[United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities]], Staff Report, ''Covert Action in Chile (1963-1973)'' (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975).)
2. Kornbluh, Peter. (2003). "The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability". The New Press.
3. O'Brien, Phil and Jackie Roddick. Chile: The Pinochet Decade: The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Boys. London: Latin American Bureau (Research and Action) Ltd, 1983.
4. Meza Antognoni, Roberto (2012). History of El Diario Financiero de Chile. Santiago de Chile: Ediciones Radio Universidad de Chile. {{ISBN. 978-956-351-576-3
5. (30 October 2014). "Eduardo Sepúlveda, director de "El Líbero": "No somos defensores de ningún partido"". Puro Periodismo.
6. (2 October 2014). "Eduardo Sepúlveda, director de El Líbero: "Hay una situación muy anómala en Chile: los medios se ignoran entre sí"". [[Pontifical Catholic University of Chile]].
7. (26 November 2019). "El desarrollo profesional del periodista Eduardo Sepúlveda". [[Canal 13 (Chile).
8. Navas, Mateo. (7 October 2020). "Ex-ante, el nuevo medio de Cristián Bofill que verá luz en los próximos días". [[Diario Financiero]].
9. 22 January 2021. [https://www.ilustrado.cl/2021/01/22/quienes-estan-detras-del-medio-digital-ex-ante/ ¿Quiénes están detrás del medio digital Ex-Ante?] ''ilustrado.cl''
10. "Chile orders Santiago curfew for third day in row".