Document #1038217
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Specific information on ownership of the
newspaper La Prensa of Nicaragua could not be found among
the sources currently available to the IRBDC. The book
L'information dans le monde (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1989)
describes it in page 400 as a private publication. The Europa
Year Book 1990 (London: Europa Publications, 1990) describes it
in page 1921 as an "evening independent" publication, under the
direction of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro and Jaime Chamorro. The
Central America Report (Guatemala: Infopress
Centroamericana, weekly) of 21 September 1990 refers in page 287 to
"Jaime Chamorro of La Prensa" as an example of a person close to
the City of God religious group and with influence in the
government of Violeta Barrios viuda de Chamorro (known also as
Violeta Chamorro). The 24 August 1990 edition of the Central
America Report in page 253 quotes Cristina Chamorro, daughter
of Violeta Chamorro and wife of the President's top advisor Antonio
Lacayo, as being the editor of La Prensa.
During the recent presidential campaign,
La Prensa was widely reported as taking a pro-UNO stand (UNO
being the political coalition led by Violeta Chamorro), while the
pro-Sandinista newspapers Barricada and El Nuevo
Diario (under the direction of Violeta Chamorro's son and
brother-in-law, respectively) took an anti-UNO stand. For a brief
overview of this media electoral confrontation, please find
attached a copy of page 14 of the June 1990 issue of NACLA
Report on the Americas. However, information on the current
content of La Prensa or the other Nicaraguan newspapers
could not be found among the sources available at present to the
IRBDC.