Obituary for Juan Pablo Cárdenas | Chile: a thorn in the side of the powerful

A critical voice in Chile has fallen silent: Juan Pablo Cárdenas Photo: wikimedia/Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Critical journalism in Latin America has lost a long-standing protagonist. On October 11th, the Chilean author, journalist, editor-in-chief and university professor Juan Pablo Cárdenas died. He became known as an unyielding critic of General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship between 1973 and 1990. His name is inextricably linked to the magazine "análisis", which began its critical reporting on the military regime at the end of 1977. This was possible thanks to the protection of the Catholic Church and financial support from some European countries, which certainly did not include Germany, whose embassy in Santiago at that time still had close ties to the German sect Colonia Dignidad.

Cárdenas viewed reporting as a public responsibility and fulfilled this requirement regardless of any associated risks to personal freedom and security. And in his case they were significant: constant threats, repeated arrests, two arson attacks on his apartment, several military trials and a year and a half of night imprisonment make it clear how dangerous it is to do serious journalism in authoritarian countries. But the repression did not stop Cárdenas from pursuing his self-imposed duty as a chronicler. On the contrary: he continued to campaign resolutely for his magazine, its employees and the right to freedom of information. While this made him a controversial figure in Chile, he met with undivided recognition outside his homeland. This is evidenced by the many awards he received not only in Latin America, but also in Spain, France and the Netherlands.

Juan Pablo Cárdenas was certainly not a committed leftist. He criticized the political and economic measures of Salvador Allende's Popular Front government, which had been overthrown by Pinochet, and especially the rigid position of the Communist Party of Chile, which he considered wrong and harmful. Knowing that reporting can never be neutral, he always stood on the side of the weak, oppressed and persecuted. In his magazine "análisis" he bluntly denounced the oppression, torture and social misery under the military dictatorship. There he offered space for the opposition, regularly published articles critical of the regime and published letters from Chileans who had gone into exile to flee the military regime.

Contrary to his own expectations, Cárdenas did not feel released from the obligation to provide critical reporting even after the end of the Pinochet regime. The political and economic continuity under the democratically elected governments was far too obvious to stop his criticism of the existing conditions. He also drew attention to increasing corruption in the country some call the Prussia of Latin America. He directed particular criticism at the former social democratic infrastructure minister and later president Ricardo Lagos, whom he accused of collaborating with the Mexican drug mafia on national road construction projects. Interestingly, Cárdenas received crucial information in Mexico, where Lagos had transported him as press and cultural attaché.

His teaching at the University of Chile was closely linked to the themes that shaped his career: the responsibility to report on matters of public interest, the independence of the media from power and journalistic research. In his last opinion piece, "680 mil pesos," just two and a half months before his death, Cárdenas denounced the enormous social inequality in Chile, which one would not notice in the South American country from the outside. The average income there of 680,000 pesos is not enough to support a family, especially since very high incomes are taken into account there and many people have significantly less to spend. In view of the election of the ultra-right, economic libertarian President José Antonio Kast, he elsewhere called for reforms to strengthen democracy and population participation so that millions of people do not place their hopes in ultra-capitalist projects.

Now the “journalist who is a thorn in the side of those in power,” as Juan Pablo Cárdenas described himself in his autobiography, has fallen silent forever.

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