"Following the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, Correa stated that he would close down any Ecuadorean media outlet that called for a coup against his government.Correa has criticized several newspapers as "El Universo", "El Comercio", "Diario Hoy", "Diario Expreso", "La Hora", calling them "news mafias" for criticising the ruling of the Electoral Tribunal depriving 57 opposition legislators of their seats in Congress.