San Escobar

Last updated
The fictitious flag of San Escobar used by hoaxsters Flag of San Escobar.svg
The fictitious flag of San Escobar used by hoaxsters

San Escobar is a non-existent country originated from a blunder of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski. [1] [2]

Contents

On 10 January 2017, Waszczykowski told reporters that, in a bid for a non-permanent seat for Poland on the UN Security Council, he had meetings with officials from various countries, including some Caribbean nations, with some of them "perhaps for the first time in the history of our diplomacy. For example with countries such as San Escobar or Belize". [3] [4] [5] [6]

Internet phenomenon

"Ambasada San EscoBAR", a beerhouse opened in August 2017 in Swidnica, Poland Ambasada San Escobar.jpg
"Ambasada San EscoBAR", a beerhouse opened in August 2017 in Świdnica, Poland

A governmental spokeswoman said it had been a slip of the tongue for "San Cristóbal y Nieves", which is Spanish for Saint Kitts and Nevis. [4] News about San Escobar swept over numerous media outlets all over the world. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

As a result, the country gained a significant presence on the Internet, and was spontaneously given a fictitious identity on social media (Twitter, Facebook [13] ), including a flag (blue, white, and green stripes, with a yellow 5-pointed star in a red triangle), photos and maps. [4] The Facebook page was created by Jarek Kubicki, a member of the Razem political party. [14] Within a day the hashtag #SanEscobar was tracked by over 2 million people and has become the most popular within the Polish segment of Twitter. San Escobar has also become a subject of numerous joke news, e.g. about an appointment of a military attaché and its nice ecology. A good deal of them play upon drug lord Pablo Escobar, popularized via the TV series Narcos . [5] [7]

A Twitter account for 'República Popular Democrática de San Escobar' (@rpdsanescobar) was established, which quickly rose to prominence. It announced full support for Waszczykowski in his endeavor, and proceeded to issuing various news releases in Spanish and English, including a reproach towards Saint Kitts and Nevis: the correction of the Polish spokeswoman was interpreted as an attempt to foil PolandSan Escobar relations. San Escobar issues a newspaper, San Escobar Times (also on Twitter). San Escobar has also become a popular travel destination via El Niño Airlines. For a while the phrase "Maybe I better drop it all and fly to San Escobar?" has become very popular (Polish: „A może rzucić to wszystko i polecieć do San Escobar?”, a play with the Polish saying "A może rzucić to wszystko i wyjechać w Bieszczady"). Ticketing service Fru wrote that there are only one-way tickets to San Escobar. [7] Netflix (the creator of Narcos) also allegedly claimed it already has airline tickets to sell. For a while Wikipedia had a full-blown article about the country, including its population count, capital city (Santo Subito), and all. [7] [15] Other accounts were soon created for political and other entities within San Escobar, like one for 'El Frente Comunista de San Escobar' (The Communist Front of San Escobar), which leads a guerrilla war against the fictional country's government. [16]

Waszczykowski quickly became a target of all kinds of derision. [7] For example, a newspaper published suggestions of other countries for Waszczykowski to consider, such as San Serriffe or various micronations. [17]

On January 20, 2017, Comedy Central Poland recorded an anthem of San Escobar sung by Eric Cartman, an animated South Park character. [18]

In 2017, Waszczykowski has won the Polskie Radio Program III listener's poll "Silver Lips  [ pl ]" for the most surprising or funniest utterance by a Polish public person. While receiving the award, Waszczykowski commented: "I'd rather expect the note of recognition from the Geographical Society. It did not arrive." [19]

The phenomenon of San Escobar became a subject of a scholarly paper. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Giertych</span> Polish politician and lawyer (born 1971)

Roman Jacek Giertych is a Polish political figure, historian, advocate, and dissident against the PiS government. Giertych served in PiS government as Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and Minister of National Education from May 2006 to August 2007. He was a member of the Sejm from 2001 to 2007 and the chairman of the League of Polish Families party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recognition of same-sex unions in Poland</span> Legal status of same-sex relationships in Poland

Poland does not legally recognize same-sex unions, either in the form of marriage or civil unions. In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have limited legal rights in regards to the tenancy of a shared household. A few laws also guarantee certain limited rights for unmarried couples, including couples of the same sex. Same-sex spouses also have access to residency rights under EU law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radosław Sikorski</span> Polish politician and journalist (born 1963)

Radosław Tomasz "Radek" Sikorski is a Polish politician, journalist and statesman who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland in Donald Tusk's cabinet since 2023, previously holding the office between 2007 and 2014. He was a Member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2023. Earlier he was Marshal of the Sejm from 2014 to 2015. He previously served as Deputy Minister of National Defence (1992) in Jan Olszewski's cabinet, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1998–2001) in Jerzy Buzek's cabinet and Minister of National Defence (2005–2007) in the cabinets of Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Jarosław Kaczyński.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacek Rostowski</span> Polish politician (born 1951)

Jan Anthony Vincent-Rostowski, also known as Jacek Rostowski, is a Polish-British economist and politician who served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.

Abortion in Poland is illegal except in cases where the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act or when the woman's life or health is in danger. The last change in the Act on Pregnancy Planning of the Republic of Poland took place on 27 January 2021, when publication of the judgment of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal in the Dziennik Ustaw RP took place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artur Orzech</span>

Artur Dariusz Orzech is a Polish journalist, radio and television presenter and music broadcaster.

Miss Earth Poland is a title given to a Polish woman who represents Poland at Miss Earth, which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. The current franchise holder for Miss Earth in Poland is Miss Polonia, who was also the franchise holder for 13 years since 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Włodzimierz Karpiński</span> Polish politician

Włodzimierz Witold Karpiński is a Polish politician. Karpiński served as Minister of State Treasury in the Cabinets of Donald Tusk and Ewa Kopacz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Left Together</span> Polish political party

Left Together is a left-wing political party in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witold Waszczykowski</span> Polish politician

Witold Jan Waszczykowski is a Polish politician. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2015 and 2018. Waszczykowski was a Member of the Sejm (2011–2019), and has been the Member of the European Parliament since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agreement (political party)</span> Political party in Poland

The Agreement, formally known as Jarosław Gowin's Agreement, is a centre-right political party in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuba–Poland relations</span> Bilateral relations

Cuba–Poland relations are the diplomatic relations between Cuba and Poland. Both nations are members of the United Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marek Balt</span> Polish politician

Marek Paweł Balt is a Polish politician and economist who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since the 2019 elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanna Wronecka</span> Polish politician

Joanna Wronecka is a Polish diplomat who has been serving as United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz</span> Polish physician and politician (born 1981)

Władysław Marcin Kosiniak-Kamysz is a Polish physician and politician. Since 2023, he has served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland and the Minister of National Defence and since 2015, he has served as the chairman of the Polish People's Party (PSL). From 2011 to 2015, he was Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the governments of Donald Tusk and Ewa Kopacz. He was a candidate for president in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open Dialogue Foundation</span> Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), formerly known as the Open Dialog Foundation

The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), formerly known as the Open Dialog Foundation,, is an international non-governmental organization, founded in 2009 in Poland and currently headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights and the rule of law in the post-Soviet area and – since 2018 – within the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT-free zone</span> Polish areas declaring against LGBT rights

LGBT-free zones are municipalities and regions of Poland that have declared themselves unwelcoming of LGBT rights, in order to ban equality marches and other LGBT events. By June 2020, some 100 municipalities (map) and five voivodeships, encompassing a third of the country, had adopted resolutions which have been characterized as "LGBT-free zones". On the 6th February 2024 Warsaw Voivodship Administrative Court repelead the last one "LGBT-free zone" in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Łukasz Szumowski</span> Polish cardiologist and politician

Łukasz Jan Szumowski is a Polish cardiologist who served as Minister of Health from 2018 to 2020. He is also a member of the IX Sejm, representing the Płock constituency, elected from the lists of Law and Justice.

Presidential elections will be held in Poland by 18 May 2025. They can be held earlier, should the office become vacated as a result of death, resignation or removal from office of the incumbent. Due to constitutional term limits allowing a president to serve only two terms, incumbent president Andrzej Duda is ineligible for re-election. Presidential elections in Poland must take place on a free day between 75 and 100 days before the term's end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wanda Traczyk-Stawska</span> Polish female WW2 / Warsaw Uprising veteran & activist

Wanda Traczyk-Stawska ps. "Pączek", „Atma” is a Polish psychologist and social activist. She was involved in the Polish underground resistance movement during World War II, a soldier of the Home Army, a member of the Gray Ranks, a participant in the Warsaw Uprising, and chairperson of the Social Committee for the Cemetery of Warsaw Insurgents.

References

  1. 1 2 Adam Taylor (11 January 2017). "San Escobar: How Poland's foreign minister helped create a fake country". The Washington Post . Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. "Polish FM Sparks Jokes With Mention of Nonexistent Country". The New York Times . Associated Press. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  3. "San Escobar: Polish foreign minister's slip invents a country", BBC
  4. 1 2 3 "Polish minister mocked over meeting with fictional nation of San Escobar". The Guardian . 2017-01-11. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05.
  5. 1 2 "Waszczykowski wymyślił nowe państwo. "Spotkałem się z ministrem San Escobar""; Quote from Waszczykowski  : "Mamy okazję do prawie 20 spotkań z różnymi ministrami. Z niektórymi, jak np. na Karaibach, po raz pierwszy chyba w historii naszej dyplomacji. Na przykład z takimi krajami jak San Escobar albo Belize. Każdy z tych krajów to jest jeden głos w Zgromadzeniu Ogólnym ONZ"
  6. "Netzreporter: #SanEscobar | Morgenmagazin". Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen (ARD) (in German). 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 San Escobar jest już wszędzie. O "nowym sojuszniku Polski" mówią od Rosji po Wielką Brytanię, ("San Escobar is Everywhere Already. The 'New ally of Poland' is Spoken About from Russia to Great Britain "), Gazeta Wyborcza, January 11, 2017
  8. (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Polens Außenminister sorgt mit erfundenem Land für Spott | Aktuell Europa | DW.COM | 12.01.2017". DW.COM. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  9. "Polnischer Minister "erfindet" Karibik-Staat - news.ORF.at". news.ORF.at (in German). 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  10. "Le ministre polonais des Affaires étrangères se félicite du soutien d'un pays… inexistant !". LCI (in French). Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  11. Dupuis, Jordan. "La Pologne aurait discuté et échangé avec un pays... qui n'existe pas". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  12. "Fancy an exotic getaway to San Escobar?". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2017-01-14.
  13. San Escobar Facebook page
  14. "Nie jestem Kijowskim partii Razem". To on stoi za profilem państwa San Escobar
  15. "San Escobar - co wiemy o nowym sojuszniku Polski, którego pozyskał minister Witold Waszczykowski?"
  16. San Escobar: How Poland’s foreign minister helped create a fake country - Washington Post
  17. "San Escobar przetarł drogę. Na spotkanie z ministrem Waszczykowskim czekają przedstawiciele innych nieistniejących państw",Gazeta Wyborcza January 11, 2017
  18. Hymn San EscobarComedy Central Polska
  19. " Triumf San Escobar. Rozdano "Srebrne Usta" za 2017 rok"
  20. Ewa Badyda, Lucyna Warda-Radys. Santo Subito, Bimberro Grande i Pico de Waszczykowski (2017 m) – wykreowany w przestrzeni Internetu fikcyjny kraj San Escobar (wpływ kontekstu na strukturę pojęcia) [Santo Subito, Bimberro Grande and Pico de Waszczykowski (2017 m) – a fictional country of San Escobar created in the Internet space (the impact of the context on the concept’s structure)]. „Media, biznes, kultura. Dziennikarstwo i komunikacja społeczna”, p. 93–106, 2017. Uniwersytet Gdański. ISSN 2451-1986 (in Polish)