About Diario de Los Andes

Diario de Los Andes

Overview

Diario de Los Andes is a Venezuelan regional newspaper serving the Andean states of Trujillo, Táchira and Mérida, in the west of the country. It is based in Valera, the commercial centre of Trujillo state, and it is published by Editorial de los Andes, S.A. Its journalism is generalist and regional in character: local politics, community affairs, crime and courts, education, health, sport and culture from the three Andean states, alongside national and international news. Its website, diariodelosandes.com, returned a live response in October 2026, and its reporting was cited on suspected school poisoning cases in Trujillo in early October 2026, confirming a newsroom still publishing in the current period.

The paper should not be confused with two better-known namesakes: Diario Los Andes of Mendoza, Argentina, founded in the nineteenth century, and Los Andes of Puno, Peru. The Venezuelan Diario de Los Andes is a distinct, younger publication, rooted in the Andean west of Venezuela and edited from Valera rather than from Caracas. That regional identity is its defining feature. Venezuela's national press is concentrated in the capital, and the country's regional newspapers have historically been the ones that record what happens in state capitals, provincial towns and rural municipalities. Diario de Los Andes belongs to that tradition, and its coverage of the three Andean states gives it a readership that national titles, however large, do not reach in the same depth.

For readers in Trujillo, the paper is a long-standing institution. A retrospective published in 2025 marked 47 years of its presence in the major events affecting Trujillo society, which places its founding in the late 1970s. That longevity matters in a Venezuelan media environment where many regional newspapers have closed, shrunk or moved entirely online under economic pressure. Diario de Los Andes has survived the same pressures that ended the print editions of other regional titles, and it continues to publish from Valera.

History

The original Trujillo edition of Diario de Los Andes was founded in the late 1970s, with editions for Táchira and Mérida established later, in the 1990s. The paper is published by Editorial de los Andes, S.A., and its offices stand in the Zona Industrial Carmen Sánchez de Jelambi, on Avenida José Tagliarerro in Valera. A court decision published by the Trujillo judiciary in 2025 names Eladio Antonio Muchacho Unda as president of the company's board of directors, and the paper's own anniversary writing has congratulated Muchacho and his team of professional journalists for sustaining the title.

The late 1970s were a period of democratic stability in Venezuela, and the founding of a regional daily in Valera reflected the growth of Trujillo's commercial and urban life. Valera, the state's largest city and its commercial hub, sits in the valley below Trujillo city, the state capital, and it has long functioned as the economic engine of the state. A newspaper based there, rather than in the administrative capital, was positioned to cover commerce, agriculture and daily life as well as politics.

The paper's own retrospective writing, published to mark its 47th anniversary in 2025, recalls its coverage of the episodes that most affected Trujillo society across nearly five decades. One case it cites dates from a year after its founding: the death in August 1979 of María Donata Viloria Montilla, a 19-year-old worker at a Valera business, an event that, in the paper's telling, moved regional sentiment for years. The retrospective also recalls natural disasters in the mountain towns of Boconó and San Lázaro, where death and destruction made the paper's coverage a reference for the region. These are the kinds of stories — crime, disaster, community tragedy — that define a regional newspaper's relationship with its readers, and the paper's anniversary writing presents them as the core of its identity.

In the 1990s the paper extended beyond Trujillo with editions for Táchira and Mérida, the other two states of the Venezuelan Andes. The three states share mountain geography, agricultural economies and a border with Colombia in the case of Táchira, and the expansion gave the paper a genuinely Andean footprint rather than a single-state one. The paper's coverage today still reflects that three-state brief, with reporting from across the region rather than from Valera alone.

Like all Venezuelan newspapers, Diario de Los Andes has operated through decades of political and economic upheaval: the democratic era, the Chávez governments, the Maduro governments, and the economic crisis that from the mid-2010s onwards deprived newspapers of newsprint, advertising revenue and staff. Human rights defender Walter Márquez has described the paper as a fundamental institution for the strengthening of democracy, praising its coverage of the Andean region, its defence of human rights and its attention to stories that others do not see. Omar Pérez Díaz, vice-rector of the University of Los Andes campus in Táchira, has described it as a medium of teaching in the universities, with journalists and directors committed to freedom of expression. Those tributes, published in 2022, speak to the paper's standing among regional civic figures rather than to any claim about its circulation, for which no current audited figure is publicly available.

Programming and Content

Diario de Los Andes publishes general news with a regional emphasis. Its sections cover the staples of a regional daily: local and regional politics, community affairs, crime and court reporting, education, health, agriculture, sport and culture. Its October 2026 reporting on suspected school poisoning cases in Trujillo is typical of its brief — a public-health and education story rooted in a specific Trujillo community, of the kind that national outlets rarely cover in depth.

The paper's coverage of the Andean region extends beyond Trujillo. Táchira, on the Colombian border, brings cross-border trade, migration and security stories; Mérida, home to the University of Los Andes and to Venezuela's highest peaks, brings university, tourism and mountain-community coverage. The paper's reporting from these states gives it a breadth that a single-state title would lack, and its anniversary writing stresses its coverage of the events of greatest impact for citizens across the region.

The paper also publishes opinion and historical writing. Its anniversary retrospective, written by Gabriel Montenegro, is an example of the paper's habit of reflecting on its own history and on the microhistory of Trujillo — the local events, personalities and tragedies that form a region's collective memory. That kind of writing, alongside daily news, is part of what makes a regional newspaper a record of its community rather than simply a bulletin of the day's events.

No current print schedule is asserted here. Like many Venezuelan regional newspapers, Diario de Los Andes has adapted its format to the economic realities of newsprint scarcity and distribution costs, and its present operation is best evidenced by its digital edition, which was live in October 2026. Readers should consult the paper's own site for its current edition arrangements.

Audience and Reach

Diario de Los Andes serves readers in Trujillo, Táchira and Mérida, the three states of the Venezuelan Andes. Its home base is Valera, Trujillo's largest city, and its coverage reaches into the smaller towns and rural municipalities of the region — places such as Boconó and San Lázaro in Trujillo, and the university city of Mérida. The paper's own anniversary writing describes a readership avid for reliable information about regional events, and its long survival suggests a loyal audience in a region where national newspapers have limited local penetration.

The paper's audience is Spanish-speaking and predominantly regional, though its digital edition extends its reach to Andean Venezuelans living elsewhere in the country and abroad. Venezuela's large emigrant population includes many Andeans, and regional newspapers online serve as a link to home for readers who have left. No current circulation or audience figure is asserted for Diario de Los Andes, since no audited figure is publicly available; its reach is described here in terms of its geography and its longevity rather than in numbers.

Digital Presence

Diario de Los Andes publishes online at diariodelosandes.com, which returned a live response in October 2026. The site carries the paper's daily news output alongside its social media presence, including its account on X under the handle @diariolosandes and video content on TikTok under the same name. Its digital edition is the clearest evidence of its current operation, and it is the channel through which its October 2026 reporting on Trujillo school poisoning cases circulated.

The paper's move to digital-first distribution follows the pattern of Venezuela's regional press, where newsprint shortages and distribution costs have pushed titles online. The paper's website is its principal public face today, and its social channels extend individual stories to readers who may not visit the site directly. No separate paywall or subscription arrangement is described here, since none is reliably documented in public sources.

Ownership and Organisation

Diario de Los Andes is published by Editorial de los Andes, S.A., a Venezuelan company based in Valera, Trujillo. A 2025 court decision from the Trujillo judiciary names Eladio Antonio Muchacho Unda, an economist, as president of the company's board of directors, and the paper's own anniversary writing congratulates Muchacho and his professional team. No other ownership details are publicly documented, and no current editor-in-chief is named here, since none is reliably sourced.

The paper's organisation reflects its regional character. It is edited from Valera rather than Caracas, and its newsroom covers three states from that base. That structure — a single regional newsroom serving a multi-state area — is common among Venezuela's surviving regional newspapers, which have consolidated their operations as resources have shrunk. The paper's survival for nearly five decades under the same publishing company is itself notable in a sector where titles have frequently changed hands, suspended publication or closed.

Contact and Availability

Diario de Los Andes is available online at diariodelosandes.com, where its current news output can be read. Its offices are in the Zona Industrial Carmen Sánchez de Jelambi, on Avenida José Tagliarerro in Valera, Trujillo state, Venezuela. Its social media presence includes the handle @diariolosandes on X and a TikTok account under the same name. Readers looking for the paper's current edition arrangements should consult its website, which was live in October 2026.