"La Prensa" was founded by Pedro Belli, Gavry Rivas and Enrique Belli on March 2, 1926. In 1930, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Zelaya became editor-in-chief, and in 1932 he bought the paper with the intention of promoting the principles of the Conservative Party of Nicaragua, as well as publicising historical studies of Nicaragua. In 1931 the office building that housed La Prensa was destroyed, for the first time out of many, in an earthquake that hit Managua. "La Prensa" suffered its first censorship in 1934 under the orders of Juan Bautista Sacasa, for being overly critical of the government. This began a long history of censorship under many different governments.