Four years after his appointment, Gabriela Canas ceases to lead the presidency of the Efe news agency. The Government has decided to dismiss the journalist after four years of management that have aggravated the already precarious economic situation of the public company dependent on the State Industrial Participation Company (QUIET).
The communication arrived by email on the morning of this holiday Wednesday at Works council from the Human Resources department, as has been advanced Voz Pópuli and EL MUNDO has been able to confirm it from union sources. However, the workers have not yet received any communication from the company. The official statement does not elaborate on the motivations that led to the dismissal nor does it mention who could replace Cañas. in the presidency of the agency.
Gabriela Canas replaced in office Fernando Garea in February 2020, and then the only motivation that the Government of Pedro Sanchez It was, in the words of the then minister spokesperson Maria Jesus Montero, which was a normal change that usually occurs at the beginning of all legislatures. Garea had only been in office for 19 months.
Once again, the dismissal of the president of Efe, the first woman to head the public news agency, comes after the formation of a new Executive. However, the journalist’s management has not been free of controversy. A report of the Court of Accounts revealed, in January of this year, that Efe was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2020 and 2021 due to the enormous debts it bore, which fell on a structural debt that it had been carrying for years.
The agency closed 2020 with a debt balance of 1,187,992 euros in its net worth compared to the 7.7 million positive with which it had closed the previous year, which implied that the news agency was in one of the causes of dissolution provided for in the Capital Companies Lawpointed out the Court of Accounts in his report. The extraordinary situation created by the Covid pandemic allowed bankruptcy to be avoided. “This does not mean that the unbalanced economic-financial situation of the Entity as of that date is no longer relevant,” the organization notes.