Agustín Edwards Eastman

Throughout his time as publisher, he has used El Mercurio SAP's newspapers to influence public opinion in Chile, and he supported the 1973 coup d'état to oust socialist President Salvador Allende.

[2] On 5 September 1970, Edwards met with Henry Kissinger, John N. Mitchell and Richard Helms in Washington to request their financial support in his attempt to oust Marxist Salvador Allende who was about to win the Presidency.

[5] He also provided the CIA with intelligence crucial to planning the coup, including specifying armed forces officers and government officials who would be allies in orchestrating it.

[5][6] Over the following year, Richard Nixon approved three covert payments totalling approximately US$2,000,000 to Edwards so he would use his media empire to help destabilise Chile's democratic process.

[8] Edwards' media outlets did not just create political instability through their reporting, but also conspired with the armed forces to facilitate a successful military takeover.

[5] Only after the Rettig Report detailing the crimes of the Pinochet dictatorship was released in February 1991 did El Mercurio stop referring to victims of human rights violations as "allegedly missing prisoners".

[13] Edwards was married to María Luisa del Río Fernández, and they have six children: Agustín, Isabel, Carolina, Cristián, André, and Felipe.