Mario "Cucho" Vargas, historic Bolivian football commentator, passes away

 In the last hours, the death of Mario Teófilo Vargas Rodríguez, better known as "Cucho" Vargas, a journalist with a long career and a historic football commentator in Bolivia, has been officially announced by his family.

At 94 years old, Cucho Vargas goes down in history as a notable figure in national sports journalism, not only for his extensive career in sports programs but also as a producer of informative spaces, such as the program "Enfoques," which initially started on radio waves and later expanded to television, where he coined the slogan "con el Enfoque de enfoques y con la máquina de mirar" (with the Focus of focuses and with the viewing machine).

He was the producer of the "Panorama" program and the director of the printed magazine "Enfoques," maintaining its characteristic presentation of news with a fresh perspective, even when they were decades old. Cucho Vargas also founded the morning newspaper "Hoy," which shone in its golden years for its sports section.

Author of several books, in one of his last appearances, he received the National Journalism Award, precisely for his contribution to the development of journalistic activity and for being a mentor to several generations of sports journalists.

He is considered one of the best football narrators of his time. Even today, sports programs continue to show archive footage of his commentary on the historic South American championship won by the Bolivian national team during the continental tournament held in 1963 on national territory.

The sports journalism community expressed its regret for this sensitive loss with a heartfelt message: "Goodbye, maestro."

The remains of Mr. Cucho Vargas will be mourned this Sunday at the "El Paraíso" funeral hall in the Miraflores area of La Paz.

After President Arce's son denounces YPFB case, Ethics Tribunal issues ruling against Amalia Pando

 After the son of President Luis Arce, Luis Marcelo Arce Mosqueira, filed a complaint before the National Tribunal of Journalistic Ethics (TNEP) of the Association of Journalists of La Paz (APLP) about a case related to YPFB, that body issued a resolution against journalist Amalia Pando.

"That journalist Amalia Pando Vega must observe in her journalistic work the ethical requirement of truthfulness and contextualization of the facts she reports", states point 1 of Resolution 005/2022, which was signed by the members of the Journalistic Ethics Tribunal, issued last April 20.

It also states that journalist Pando must consider the ethical requirement of informative balance, which obliges her to present different facets of the information, consulting both parties and counterparts.

Furthermore, in the spirit of respect for the differentiation between information and opinion, she is recommended to apply this requirement in her journalistic work.

You can also read: President Arce's son is reported to have worked in YPFB with a salary of Bs 35,000.

"Within the non-punitive, but ethical scope of the (TNEP), journalist Amalia Pando, and under Article 25, numeral 1, of its Operating Regulations, must ratify through the right to reply the published journalistic note with the pertinent clarifications or formulating the apologies of the case", resolved the Court.

On January 30, journalist Pando, through her program Cabildeó Digital, published the article entitled: "The secret negotiation of Arce's son with Venezuela", in which she pointed out that the eldest son of President Luis Arce traveled in April 2021 to Caracas to negotiate the possibility that the state-owned Petroquímica de Venezuela would take over the Urea Plant operated by YPFB.

The TNEP mentions that Arce Mosqueira's complaint was admitted last March 24, after which both parties were notified.