Peio H. Riaño, Público's Culture Head, Accused by Interns

Público's Culture Head accused by his own interns

What happens when the man who publishes books about the scarcity of women in art is accused by the women who worked under him? The case of Peio H. Riaño, head of the cultural section of Público, has moved from office rumor to public issue through testimonies shared on social media. Several employees —interns and journalists at the same newspaper— describe a boss who allegedly used his position to approach subordinates and, according to these accounts, made life difficult for those who did not play along. So far, there have been no explanations; according to the messages circulated, his Twitter account no longer exists.

What is alleged and what is proven

It is important to separate two things. One: accusations published by affected individuals circulate, describing insinuations, sensual-toned messages out of context, and, according to these testimonies, a workplace environment where no one dared to report. Two: as of the date of these events, there is no conviction, judicial ruling, or known internal file. What is circulating are narratives, not verdicts.

What is verifiable is the profile of the accused: the Culture Head of a newspaper that the thread's messages place in the pogre sphere, author of several essays on the scarce female presence in art, and a regular voice in forums on cultural feminism. In internet slang, this is the profile dubbed an ally: the man who displays his support for the cause and expects it to serve as a passport.

The testimony of an intern and the asymmetry of the job circuit

The most detailed testimony comes from a journalist who overlapped with him for one year. She was an intern; he was not. During that time, according to her own account, he barely spoke to her. Until he started reacting to her bikini Instagram stories and opening personal-tone conversations.

The key lies not in the specific message, but in what the affected woman wrote afterward: she could not publish it, although she had done so with other aggressions, because both were part of the same job circuit and he held a more senior position. There lies the entire mechanism of abuse of power, without the need for explicit threats. Hierarchy works alone, and the antiestéticar of losing the next internship does the rest.

Why this case doesn't make headlines

The most repeated suspicion among those trinc the matter is that the political tonalidad of the accused determines coverage. With a right-wing figure, this reading suggests, the complaint would be on the front page within hours; with a cultural manager of a left-leaning outlet, it stays on social media. It is a perception, not a fact: no one has measured that asymmetry with public data. But it is widespread and explains much of the tone of the conversation.

There is a factor pointed out by the narratives themselves: antiestéticar. Reporting a section head does not come cheap when he holds a more senior position in the same job circuit, as the affected woman explained.

From discourse to behavior

As a contrast, one of his phrases about the Museo del Prado and the rapes we don't see circulates. The echo has been inevitable: someone who pontificates about the male gaze in art is now examined for how he treated the women close to him. This is not a minor detail in a profile built precisely on that discourse.

Part of the conversation has drifted, as almost always, toward generalizations about the left and about women in general. That is noise and should be treated as such. What is relevant is simpler: a second journalist from the same newspaper has also published her accusation, and the pattern emerging —a boss with power, young subordinates, silence due to antiestéticar of professional retaliation— belongs to no specific ideology. It looks too much like what the accused himself denounced in writing.

What happens now

Without a public explanation, without a known internal file, and without a judicial ruling, the matter remains open. Nothing indicates, as of this information, that he has left his post. Whether the case jumps to major media outlets or remains in the limbo of social networks will depend less on the facts than on who has an interest in amplifying it.

A man who wrote about invisible women in art and ended up accused by women he didn't see when they were interns. The account no longer exists. The position, for now, has not changed either.