La República

The paper was founded in 1981 by Gustavo Mohme Llona, a former member of the Peruvian Congress. Peruvian journalist Guillermo Thorndike served as the newspaper's founding editor and had previous experience working for many newspapers in Peru.[1][2] Under Mohme's leadership, the newspaper was against the candidacy of Mario Vargas Llosa in the 1990 Peruvian general election.[3]

La República was also the main newspaper in opposition to the government of President Alberto Fujimori, who was in office from 1990 to 2000, reporting on illegal actions performed by the government, Peruvian Armed Forces and intelligence agencies.[4] During his government, journalists from the newspaper faced violence and were placed under surveillance by the National Intelligence Service (SIN), which would reportedly publish "libelous" articles in the chicha press attacking Llona and press workers.[2][4] The newspaper was seized by the military during the 1992 Peruvian self-coup and censored, though once staff regained control of their facilities, they printed a blank edition of the newspaper in protest.[2]

In April 1997, deputy editor of La República Blanca Rosales had two armed men break into her car and held her at gunpoint while they drove her through the streets of Lima, threatening to kill her.[5] The incident occurred at a time when other journalists were violently threatened following controversial reporting, with La República publishing a story that the intelligence group of the Peruvian Army had tortured individuals in the days before Rosales was attacked.[5]

Mohme would die in 2000 and Grupo La República would then be owned by Momhe's son, Gustavo Adolfo Mohme Seminario.[2]

For the 2011 Peruvian general election, the newspaper supported the presidential candidacy of Ollanta Humala and changed to the Berliner newspaper format that year.[2] Vargas Llosa would also write columns for the paper, helping its popularity.[2]