El Mercurio is a conservative

Conservatism

Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...

 Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an newspaper with editions in Valparaíso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 and Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

. Its Santiago edition is considered the country's paper-of-record

Newspaper of record

Newspaper of record is a term that may refer either to any publicly available newspaper that has been authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices , or any major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and...

 and its Valparaíso edition is the oldest daily in the Spanish language

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 currently in circulation. El Mercurio is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P. (Sociedad Anónima Periodística, "joint stock news company"), which operates a network of 19 regional dailies and 32 radio stations across the country. (See List of newspapers in Chile.)

History

The Valparaíso

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 edition of El Mercurio was founded by Pedro Félix Vicuña

Pedro Félix Vicuña

Pedro Félix Vicuña Aguirre was a Chilean journalist and one of the founders in 1827 of the newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaíso, the oldest existing newspaper in Spanish language...

 (Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna

Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna

Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna was a Chilean writer, journalist, historian and politician. Vicuña Mackenna was of Irish and Basque descent.-Biography:...

's father) on September 12, 1827, and was later acquired by Agustín Edwards Ross

Agustín Edwards Ross

Agustín Edwards Ross was a Chilean businessman and politician....

 in 1880. The Santiago edition was founded by Agustín Edwards Mac Clure

Agustín Edwards Mac Clure

Agustín Edwards McClure was a Chilean lawyer, diplomat and businessman, and founder of the Santiago edition of El Mercurio newspaper....

, son of Edwards Ross, on June 1, 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.

Criticism

El Mercurio has been criticized for having received funds from the CIA in the early 1970s to undermine the Socialist government of Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....

through continuous anti-Allende propaganda and for "setting the stage for the military coup of 11 September 1973" according to declassified documents which detail US interventions.

External links

• El Mercurio de Santiago (printed editions from October 27, 2007 to present): Image version, Flash version, Text version
• El Mercurio en Internet (up-to-the-minute online edition)
• El Mercurio de Valparaíso