The Daily Journal, Venezuela's only English-language newspaper, has been bought by Julio Augusto López, the Peruvian-born, government-connected empresario behind the new-style, pro-Chavez Diario de Caracas. López, who first tried to buy the DJ back in 2003, has big plans for the paper...but then, every new DJ owner in memory has had "big plans" for the paper until they collide with the harsh realities of publishing in a foreign language for a tiny market. (Though one suspects none of the previous owners had pockets anywhere near as deep as him.)
Now, the venerably old but consistently loss-making DJ is hardly a publishing powerhouse in Caracas. With a skeleton staff and circulation figures that have long prompted snide quips about how "en vez de dar noticias da lástima," this is far from a major coup for the government's communications strategy. Still, go to any given newsstand in Venezuela and the DJ is the only thing you'll find in English. Just the latest fallen domino...
