Rafael Poleo

Rafael David Poleo Isava (born 19 September 1937)[1] is a Venezuelan journalist and politician.

Career

He is the editor and proprietor of the newspaper El Nuevo País, which he founded in 1988,[2] and of the political magazine Zeta (named for the 1969 film Z), which he founded in 1973.[1] Previously he was the director of El Mundo (appointed by Miguel Ángel Capriles Ayala at the age of 23, c. 1960)[1] director of RCTV's news division for six years,[1] and the founding editor of Bloque De Armas' Diario 2001, launched in 1973.[3] He was at one time a member of the Venezuelan Chamber of Deputies for Democratic Action,[4] and was elected to the Venezuelan Senate in the 1998 election.[5][6]

In 1991 Poleo published accusations of corruption against then-President Carlos Andrés Pérez, with El Nuevo País publishing a copy of a $400m cheque which it said had been deposited at the Bank of Credit and Commerce International in New York in the name of Pérez' mistress, Cecilia Matos.[7] Poleo fled Venezuela after being warned by a Congressman that the DISIP secret police were going to kill him.[8] The evening after his departure, his house was attacked and ransacked, and a military intelligence agent guarding it killed. An arrest warrant was then issued for Poleo, accusing him of staging the attack and killing the guard.[8] Poleo continued to contribute columns to El Nuevo País and Zeta from exile in Florida.[8] Poleo was only able to return in June 1993, after Andrés Pérez had been charged with corruption and temporarily left office, with the new government dropping the charges against Poleo.[8] Pérez' temporary removal from office was made permanent in August 1993, and he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 28 months' imprisonment in 1996.[9]

Poleo left Venezuela for Florida a second time after charges were brought over remarks he made in a Globovisión television programme in 2008. On 13 October 2008 on Aló Ciudadano he said "I am concerned that Hugo (Chávez) may end his days like Mussolini did: hanging heels over head." According to El Universal, "Government officials branded such remarks as solicitation to assassination, civil disobedience and rebellion against the public powers."[10]

Poleo has four children, three of them active in the field of journalism.[1]

References
  1. (in Spanish), Producto, March 2010, Polémico Poleo Archived 2013-01-23 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 3 June 2012
  2. (in Spanish) Andrés Bello Catholic University, Directorio de medios venezolanos, El Nuevo País, accessed 3 June 2012
  3. (in Spanish) Andrés Bello Catholic University, Diario 2001, accessed 2 June 2012
  4. (in Spanish) Andrés Bello Catholic University, Directorio de medios venezolanos, Buenos días con Sofía con Poleo, Rafael, Editor, Diputado por Acción Democrática (AD) al Congreso Nacional; (Venevisión)
  5. (in Spanish) El Universal, 20 November 1998, Proclamados senadores y diputados de Vargas
  6. (in Spanish) El País, 25 April 2002, 'Chávez está en libertad provisional'
  7. (in Spanish) El Tiempo, 7 November 1992, HISTORIAS DE AMOR Y DE INTRIGA EN VENEZUELA
  8. Roberto Fabricio, Florida Sun-Sentinel, 27 June 1993, Venezuelan Exile Returns To Caracas
  9. Kada, Naoko (2003), "Impeachment as a punishment for corruption? The cases of Brazil and Venezuela", in Jody C. Baumgartner, Naoko Kada (eds, 2003), Checking executive power: presidential impeachment in comparative perspective, Greenwood Publishing Group
  10. El Universal, 24 July 2009, International bodies criticize attacks on Venezuelan media Archived 25 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine
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