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The veteran journalist and host Walter Martínez, known for his international analysis program Dossier and for his closeness to the Chavismo establishment, passed away this Thursday in Caracas.
The news was confirmed by Miguel Ángel Pérez Pirela, Minister of People's Power for Communication and Information, who posted a message on X expressing his condolences for his passing and highlighting his influence on official Venezuelan communication.
"She has departed from our beloved, polluted, and unique spaceship Walter Martínez," wrote Pérez Pirela.
Walter established a unique style, based on academic rigor and an exceptional ability to interpret global geopolitics,” he added.
In his message, the minister stated that Martínez "brought distant realities closer to Venezuelan homes, allowing the audience to understand unfolding events with an uncommon depth in conventional television."
He also expressed condolences on behalf of interim President Delcy Rodríguez and the Bolivarian Government: “We honor his memory, his discipline, and the clarity that characterized each of his interventions. Please take the floor, dear Walter.”
Walter Martínez was a journalist and broadcaster with a long career, remembered for his iconic program Dossier, which aired for decades on Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), where he analyzed world events with a formal style, technical language, and a distinct ideological orientation.
Throughout his career, Martínez established himself as a voice of the establishment and of Latin American leftist thought, firmly defending the dictatorships of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, while also cultivating an academic profile in the geopolitical field.
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1941, Martínez began his career in military journalism and became a Venezuelan citizen in the 1970s.
His presence in front of the cameras, his deep voice, and his closing phrase —“You have the camera”— became a part of the country's audiovisual imagination.
In recent decades, its program Dossier has remained one of the longest-running spaces on Venezuelan state television, characterized by a critical approach towards the United States and Western governments, as well as its defense of sovereignty and global multipolarity.
Martínez's passing marks the end of an era in Venezuelan political communication. His figure, both controversial and respected in equal measure, symbolized the media model promoted by Chavismo since the 2000s.
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