View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
August 28, 2009

Peruvian journalist wins ‘Most Racist Article’ award

Peruvian writer Andrés Bedoya Ugarteche has been named by charity Survival as the winner of its Most Racist Article of the Year award.

The 13 June article headlined ‘The poor chunchos and other idiocies‘is condemned by Survival as “offensive rubbish” – although Ugarteche himself has denied he was being racist.

Describing indigenous people as ‘ignorant, primitive, violent chunchos from the pre-agricultural age”, the column in Peruvian daily Correo also called the government ‘butchers and assassins’and the opposition ‘communist excrement”.

Referring to the police killed in a clash with indigenous protesters in Northern Peru, he wrote that ‘if the ‘natives’didn’t shrink the heads of the policemen they killed and eat their remains, it was only because there wasn’t time.”

In the penultimate paragraph of his article, the writer implies a solution to the issue of indigenous people: ‘I don’t know what keeps Alan [Garcia, the president] from providing the air force with all the napalm necessary.”

Further epithets in the piece described Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as ‘dung with ears’and opposition supporters’ opinions as ‘brothel lies.”

Asked about his ‘win’by Lima newspaper El Comercio, the writer denied he was being racist, saying that it was in fact Peru’s indigenous people who are racist.

He said: ‘They’re the ones who are racist and I was just drawing attention to it.”

‘To be a racist, I would have to be a pure blood and I’m not one,’he said. ‘I hope they give me a medal, a diploma and a special ceremony.”

The original article is still live on Correo’s website, but Spanish-speaking internet users have formed a Facebook group called ‘Against Correo and Bedoyda Ugarteche‘which today reached 892 members.

Survival was founded in 1969 after an article by Norman Lewis in the UK’s Sunday Times highlighted the massacres, land thefts and genocide taking place in Brazilian Amazonia.

The London-based charity spends over £800,000 a year on charitable projects including education.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network