La Prensa (Panama City)
Daily newspaper | |
Founder(s) | I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr. |
---|---|
Staff writers | Gustavo Gorriti (1996–2003) |
Founded | 1980 |
Political alignment | Conservative, pro-democracy |
Headquarters | Panama City, Panama |
Website | La Prensa |
La Prensa is a conservative[1] Panamanian newspaper founded in 1980. Established by I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr. during a period of military dictatorship, La Prensa built an international reputation as an independent nationalist voice, and has been described by some admirers as "Panama's leading opposition newspaper"[2] and its newspaper of record.[3]
Under military dictatorship
The newspaper was founded in 1980 by I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr.,[4] who had returned to Panama in 1979 after living in exile for three years in the United States. Created to oppose the military dictatorship of Omar Torrijos,[5] the paper published its first issue on August 4, 1981.[6]
In 1982, Prensa editor Carlos Ernesto González was sentenced to five months' imprisonment for an article critical of President
In 1986, La Prensa was still the only newspaper publishing reports critical of military leader
On July 4, 1987, PRD supporters burned down Mansion Dante, a commercial complex owned by the Eisenmann family.[13] On July 26, security forces entered the building with an order to close La Prensa signed by Governor of Panama Alberto Velázquez; two smaller opposition papers were also closed.[3][4] La Prensa remained closed for six months, putting out its next issue on January 20, 1988.[14] The paper was occupied and closed by government troops again in 1988, reopening in January 1990, shortly after the United States invasion of Panama.[15] Eisenmann called the issue "the first La Prensa that we have ever published without threat, without being under the gun."[16]
Post-military rule
Following democratic reforms, the paper continued to report on politics and government corruption. In the
In 1996, Peruvian journalist
In 1998, La Prensa and other Panamanian papers reported that the construction of a new National Assembly building had been tainted by graft, and that a representative of the US corporation HNTB had distributed US$5 million in bribes to secure the project.[19] The following year, the paper broke the story that two members of the campaign of PRD candidate Martín Torrijos had accepted bribes from Mobil for use of a former US military base.[20]
Former Attorney General José Antonio Sossa filed a criminal complaint for libel against four Prensa journalists in 2000: Gorriti, business editor Miren Gutiérrez Almazor , and journalists Monica Palm and Rolando Rodriguez. The complaint cited a series of stories the paper published in 1999 reporting that a drug trafficker had donated to one of Sossa's political campaigns.[21] In 2004, Sossa also filed a complaint against Eisenmann, who had questioned his work as a public servant.[22]
Former vice president
In 2012, La Prensa published a series of investigative reports of Transcaribe Trading Company, one of the country's largest construction firms, alleging that it had made millions off favorable contracts with the government. In response, workers from the company surrounded and blockaded the Prensa building, requiring President Ricardo Martinelli to intervene to end the standoff.[25]
References
- ^ a b Tracy Wilkinson (May 10, 1994). "The Ghosts of Panama's Past Haunt Elections, Spooking Some Observers". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ "Troops Attack Rebel Colonel's Panama Home". Los Angeles Times. Reuters. July 28, 1987. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ a b I. Roberto Eisenmann Jr. (June 14, 1989). "Panama Might Still Brake the New Narco-Militarism". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8420-2559-1.
- ^ Juanita Darling (September 13, 1997). "Visa Refusal Seen as Effort to 'Gag' Defiant Peruvian Editor". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ "Historia de la Prensa". La Prena. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ "Panama Editor Arrested For Attack on President". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 9, 1981. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ a b David Gonzalez (October 28, 2001). "Panama Is Putting Journalists on Trial". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ISBN 031333322X.
- ^ William R. Long (July 18, 1986). "He Sees Plot Aimed at Canal Control". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ISBN 031333322X.
- ^ "Panama Editor in Miami After Death Threats". The New York Times. United Press International. July 24, 1986. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ Stephen Kinzer (July 4, 1987). "Panama Strike Called in Fire Tied to the Regime". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ Elaine Sciolino (January 20, 1988). "U.S. Believes Plan to Ease Out Panama's Leader Is Still Alive". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ "News Summary". The New York Times. January 10, 1990. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ David E. Pitt (January 10, 1990). "The U.S. and Panama: The Press; Paper Noriega Crushed Is Reborn as a Watchdog". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c Larry Rohter (September 4, 1997). "Panama's Move to Oust Editor Sets Off Storm". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ a b "Rewarding Courage". NewsHour. PBS. November 25, 1998. Archived from the original on August 31, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^ Juanita Darling (July 27, 1998). "Panama Set to Plunge Into Big Public-Private Project". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ "Another Torrijos". The Economist. March 27, 1999. Archived from the original on April 15, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
- ^ "Police surround homes of three journalists charged with criminal defamation". International Freedom of Expression Exchange. August 9, 2000. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-521-70070-2.
- ^ "1998 Press Freedom Awards -Gorriti". Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
- ^ "Attacks on the Press 2001: Panama". The Committee to Protect Journalists. March 26, 2002. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ Randal C. Archibold (August 3, 2012). "Panama: President Ends Blockade at Newspaper". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2012.