El Mercurio
El Mercurio is one of Chile’s oldest newspapers, with its Valparaíso edition founded on September 12, 1827, by Pedro Félix Vicuña, and its Santiago edition established on June 1, 1900, by Agustín Edwards Mac Clure. During the early 1970s, the CIA poured funds into this “staunchly right-wing” publication to undermine Salvador Allende’s government, with President Nixon personally authorizing $700,000 in covert support in September 1971. According to declassified documents, the newspaper played “a significant role in setting the stage for the military coup” that brought General Augusto Pinochet to power in September 1973. The Valparaíso building was set on fire by demonstrators during the 2019 Chilean protests.
