El Nacional (Venezuela)
El Nacional is a Venezuelan publishing company under the name C.A. Editorial El Nacional, most widely known for its El Nacional newspaper and website. It, along with Últimas Noticias and El Universal, are the most widely read and circulated daily national newspapers in the country. In 2010, it had an average of 83,000 papers distributed daily and 170,000 copies on weekends.[1] It has been called Venezuela's newspaper of record.[2]
Since the increase of censorship in Venezuela during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, El Nacional has been described as one of the last independent newspapers in Venezuela.[3] El Nacional published its final print edition on 14 December 2018 (after having been cut to five print editions per week back in August), joining in the dozens of anti-government newspapers in the nation that have stopped printing due to paper and toner shortages. It became an exclusively online newspaper after the date,[4][5] and has been blocked by internet providers since early 2022.[6]
Political stance and editorial opinion[edit]
El Nacional would become quite critical of the second Carlos Andrés Pérez administration, joining opponents such as the Attorney General Ramón Escovar Salom and journalist José Vicente Rangel, culminating in his impeachment in 1993.[18][19] The newspaper would likewise be critical of Hugo Chávez government. In its 10 April 2002 editorial (the day before a failed right-wing coup d'état against President Chávez), it described Chávez as "a contumacious liar" and called upon the citizens that "today we have to go out to the streets today to show this knave who is in power that we Venezuelans are decent and dignified people". On the following day editorial, the newspaper reacted positively to the political crisis leading up to the coup saying that "this battle is coming to an end".[20]