(Periodistas/IFEX) – On 25 December 1997, the Esquel daily “El Oeste” was the target of a deliberate arson attack that resulted in the near total loss of the newspaper’s files, part of its photographic archives as well as the near destruction of the paper’s offices. According to police, the arsonists are thought to have entered […]
(Periodistas/IFEX) – On 25 December 1997, the Esquel daily “El
Oeste” was the target of a deliberate arson attack that resulted
in the near total loss of the newspaper’s files, part of its
photographic archives as well as the near destruction of the
paper’s offices. According to police, the arsonists are thought
to have entered the premises through a window of which the glass
appeared to be broken.
“El Oeste” director Jose Agustin Moran Aguilar indicated that, in
his opinion, the attack could have been a response to
investigations into “a half-dozen bloody and unpunished crimes”
committed in the past few years in an area near Esquel. On 26
December, Chubut governor Carlos Maestro acknowledged the
intentional aspect of the fire. On the same day, an emergency
edition of “El Oeste” appeared, which included an editorial that
announced the staff’s intention to continue publishing the
newspaper.
