Gainza Paz, Alberto

Alberto Gainza Paz, (born March 16, 1899, Buenos Aires—died Dec. 26, 1977, Buenos Aires), editor of the influential Buenos Aires daily La Prensa whose opposition to dictator Juan Perón led to the newspaper’s confiscation by the government, 1951–55. He was regarded as a symbol of the struggle for freedom of the press.

Gainza Paz received a law degree from the National University at Buenos Aires in 1921 and joined the staff of La Prensa under the direction of his uncle, Ezequiel P. Paz, whom he succeeded as editor in 1943. That same year the paper, which by then had gained worldwide prestige, was censured for criticizing the military government. In 1944 criticism of the regime’s health program brought a five-day suspension. In the autumn of 1945 Gainza Paz and the editors of five other newspapers were briefly arrested and charged with conspiring to overthrow the government. In January 1951 the government-controlled newsdealers’ union struck La Prensa, forcing it to suspend publication. Matters reached a critical point in March when the Congress ordered Gainza Paz, who had already left for Uruguay, jailed for contempt. La Prensa was confiscated in April 1951, and Gainza Paz, who had remained abroad since his arrest order, did not resume management until after Perón was overthrown in 1955.