SEPI Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales

AGENCIA EFE inaugurated today in Caracas a photography exhibition for commemorating its 75th anniversary through a tour of historical world events, especially those which affected Spain and Latin America.

The exhibition was inaugurated at the Exhibition Hall of Fundación BBVA Provincial by the President of that institution, Mr. Pedro Rodríguez Serrano, who was accompanied by AGENCIA EFE’s Chairman, Mr. José Antonio Vera, and Spain’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Mr. Antonio Pérez Hernández.

'AGENCIA EFE is an authentic institution in Spain, and it has made great contributions to the communication world”, declared the Spanish Ambassador in that South American country.

Mr. Pérez Hernández stated that 'Spanish companies will stay” in Venezuela, to whose cultural and social development they have made a contribution.

'We have been present in Venezuela for 40 years, and 50 years in Latin America. We are a Spanish company, but we have a deeply Latin American soul thanks to all the people who work with us at the different delegations and offices, at which there is always local staff ', affirmed AGENCIA EFE’s Chairman.

Mr. Vera made a review of the news agency’s history during its 75-year long history, and he made observations about some of the photographs which are exhibited at the gallery; the inauguration was attended by several media from Venezuela, as well as by local entrepreneurs and journalists.

EFE, 40 years in Venezuela

The exhibition is made up by 75 photographs, 50 of which show historical world events, while the remaining 25 are exclusively dedicated to Venezuela, where AGENCIA EFE has had a delegation for the last 4 decades.

'Our journalists lead a completely anonymous life, one of the aspects which I like to highlight (...) practically never do they sign with their names, and nevertheless, they are providing Society with a service which, in my opinion, is very important', declared Mr. Vera.

One of the historical findings in this exhibition shows to the Venezuelan public the meeting which held on October 23rd, 1040 at Hendaye Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco and the German’s, Adolf Hitler, during the Second World War, in an image which was faked with the photographic techniques then available.

In 'EFE, 75 years in photographs' it is possible to see also such personalities from the Latin American culture, as the Mexican actor Mario Moreno 'Cantinflas', the Cuban singer Celia Cruz, the Colombian writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mr. Gabriel García Márquez, and the Venezuelan singer Mr. José Luis Rodríguez 'El Puma'.

Other images which can be seen are those regarding the terrorist attacks against the Twin Towers in New York in 2001, that at Madrid on March 11th, 2004, or the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

Venezuela is present in this photography exhibition with such photographs as that of Hugo Chávez’s coffin in 2013, the arrival of the soccer player Alfredo Di Stefano to the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela after being released from his kidnap in Caracas in 1963.

It is also possible to see an image of the then Crown Prince Felipe at the Venezuelan town La Guaira after the floods in 2000, or sporting images, such as America’s Cup 2007, which took place in Venezuela.

The President of the Fundación BBVA Provincial, Mr. Pedro Rodríguez, thanked AGENCIA EFE for having chosen the exhibition hall of this institution for celebrating its 75th anniversary, and highlighted the support which that company gives to “the educational and cultural worlds'.

The exhibition will remain open to the public until December 7th.

EFE’s first international correspondent’s office was opened at Buenos Aires, in 1965.

About EFE

AGENCIA EFE has more than 3,000 professionals all over the world, who cover more than 120 countries, and generates daily more than 5,000 news items on text, photograph, audio, video, and multimedia format.

The exhibition’s photographs come from the funds at EFE’s Graphic Archives, where at least 17 Million photographs are kept, of which 12 Million are analogical and the remaining 5 Million, digital.

AGENCIA EFE celebrated in this way at Venezuela its 75th anniversary as a rigorous, independent, and objective broadcaster of news about and for the world.

About Grupo SEPI

AGENCIA EFE belongs to Grupo SEPI, a corporate holding which includes a total of 16 state-owned companies in which it has direct, majority shareholding participations, with a final workforce of more than 74,000 professionals in 2013; the Spanish state-owned television and radio corporation, Corporación Radiotelevisión Española, which is attached to SEPI, and one public foundation. Equally, SEPI has direct minority shareholdings in a further nine companies, and indirect shareholdings in more than one hundred companies.