El Fonógrafo

In giving this name to the newspaper López Rivas, more than to politics, wanted to associate El Fonografo´s content to innovation, progress and civilization.

El Fonógrafo started when it had just ended a period of conflicts in the state of Zulia, caused by the temporary closure of the port of Maracaibo by the central government.

This publishing house had the most advanced techniques of the time and that made possible to issue a modern newspaper of high quality in printing and graphic arts.

U.S. consul in Maracaibo between 1878 and 1919, Eugene Plumacher, writes in his memoirs that Guzmán Blanco felt animosity toward the people of Zulia state because of their very independent spirit.

[5] Because of its independent information policies the newspaper was closed down by the government several times, but its moral prestige made it possible for El Fonógrafo to restart, over and over, and to survive 38 years of censorship and dictatorship.

The previous despotic regimes, writes Pocaterra, had respected the newspaper, whose material progress was a result of its enormous moral responsibility.

[9] When World War I started in 1914, Gómez favored the German Empire in the conflict while maintaining a veneer neutrality against the allied community.

[10] The newspaper's policy in favor of the Allies resulted in economic imbalance for El Fonógrafo because most of its advertisements, that came from German imports and trading firms, began to be withdrawn.

The headquarters of El Fonógrafo in Caracas and Maracaibo were closed permanently ending with it, writes José R. Pocaterra, the efforts of two generations...and 38 years of the great Zulia newspaper.