![]() | This article's factual accuracy is
disputed. (September 2021) |
Rafael David Poleo Isava (born 19 September 1937) [1] is a Venezuelan journalist and politician.
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][ failed verification] 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][ failed verification] 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][ failed verification] 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]
![]() | This article's factual accuracy is
disputed. (September 2021) |
Rafael David Poleo Isava (born 19 September 1937) [1] is a Venezuelan journalist and politician.
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][ failed verification] 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][ failed verification] 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][ failed verification] 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]