El Mercurio

The three articles relating to The Chilean Revolution and the involvement of El Mercurio shed light the drastic power of the media to display consumption in Latin America in vastly different lights. In the obituary the focus is placed on the man, Agustín Edwards, his life and what he left behind with his death. Although the emphasis is on the political aspects of his work with the newspaper, a political stance is not clearly taken as the emphasis of the piece is to commemorate the life of Edwards. The involvement of the CIA with the newspaper is discussed but it is present in a very factual way rather than presenting an analysis about the issue. In contrast, the excerpt titled The El Mercurio Project the focus is on the political involvement of El Mercurio in the Chilean Revolution. This piece explained the paper’s involvement with the CIA and described it as essentially a propaganda vessel for the ideology America wanted to portray in Chile. El Mercurio is even stated to have been a serious trigger for the coup, mainly due to its involvement with the CIA. Finally, the book chapter titled The Revolution Will be Televised paints a broader portrait of media propaganda in the Chilean Revolution. There is discussion of the contrast of media usage between different campaigns and how the newspaper El Mercurio fit into the grander scheme of the environment at the time. In conclusion, these three perspectives on the same newspaper show that consumption of Latin America in the media varies drastically, and one must read a variety of comprehensive sources to begin to understand the topic.