El Universal (Caracas)
El Universal is a major Venezuelan newspaper, headquartered in Caracas.[1] El Universal is part of the Latin American Newspaper Association (Spanish, Periodicals Associates Latin-Americans), an organization of leading newspapers in Latin America. Its main rival is El Nacional. The newspaper does not disclose circulation figures.[2]
This article is about the Caracas daily. For other similarly named newspapers, see El Universal (disambiguation).Type
Daily newspaper
1909
Political stance and editorial opinion[edit]
On the morning of 13 April 2002, when the removal of Hugo Chávez in what later came to be referred to as the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt appeared a success, the paper headlined ¡Un Paso Adelante! (One Step Forward!).[8][9]
The newspaper was described as pro-opposition by The Guardian in 2008, by the BBC in 2013 and by Reuters numerous times between 2011 and 2014.[10][11][12][13][14]
On 5 July 2014, it was announced that after 105 years of ownership, the Mata family had sold a controlling stake in the newspaper to a Spanish investment firm linked to the Venezuelan government, Politician S.L., a firm that "was created with the purpose of acquiring" El Universal.[15][16][17][18][19] According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), El Universal "cosied up to Venezuela's socialist government" following the purchase. The CPJ wrote that staff complained about censorship by their editors and that there had been firings and resignations at the newspaper.[2]