San Escobar
{{Short description|Non-existent country}}
San Escobar is a non-existent country originated from a blunder of the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/11/san-escobar-how-polands-foreign-minister-helped-create-a-fake-country/ |title=San Escobar: How Poland's foreign minister helped create a fake country |author=Adam Taylor |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=11 January 2017 |access-date=12 January 2017}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/01/11/world/europe/ap-eu-poland-fake-country.html |title=Polish FM Sparks Jokes With Mention of Nonexistent Country |agency=Associated Press |work=The New York Times |date=11 January 2017 |access-date=12 January 2017}}
Origin
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".[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38582447 "San Escobar: Polish foreign minister's slip invents a country"], BBC{{cite web |title=Polish minister mocked over meeting with fictional nation of San Escobar |date=2017-01-11 |website=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705120838/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/11/polish-minister-mocked-over-meeting-with-fictional-san-escobar |archive-date=2023-07-05 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/11/polish-minister-mocked-over-meeting-with-fictional-san-escobar}}[http://wyborcza.pl/7,75399,21225710,waszczykowski-wymyslil-nowe-panstwo-spotkalem-sie-z-ministrem.html "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"{{Cite web|url=http://www.daserste.de/information/politik-weltgeschehen/morgenmagazin/videos/netzreporterescobarzwei-100.html|title=Netzreporter: #SanEscobar {{!}} Morgenmagazin|date=2017-01-13|website=Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen (ARD)|language=de-DE|access-date=2017-01-14}}
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. News about San Escobar swept over numerous media outlets all over the world.[http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,21230101,san-escobar-jest-juz-wszedzie-o-nowym-sojuszniku-polski-od.html?disableRedirects=true 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{{Cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/de/polens-au%C3%9Fenminister-sorgt-mit-erfundenem-land-f%C3%BCr-spott/a-37106225|title=Polens Außenminister sorgt mit erfundenem Land für Spott {{!}} Aktuell Europa {{!}} DW.COM {{!}} 12.01.2017|last=(www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche Welle|website=DW.COM|access-date=2017-01-14}}{{Cite news|url=http://orf.at/stories/2374753/2374748/|title=Polnischer Minister "erfindet" Karibik-Staat - news.ORF.at|date=2017-01-12|newspaper=news.ORF.at|language=de-DE|access-date=2017-01-14}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.lci.fr/international/le-ministre-polonais-des-affaires-etrangeres-moque-sur-twitter-et-facebook-pour-s-etre-felicite-du-soutien-d-un-pays-inexistant-2021401.html|title=Le ministre polonais des Affaires étrangères se félicite du soutien d'un pays… inexistant !|newspaper=LCI|language=fr-FR|access-date=2017-01-14}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2017/01/13/la-pologne-aurait-discute-et-echange-avec-un-pays-qui-nexiste-pas|title=La Pologne aurait discuté et échangé avec un pays... qui n'existe pas|last=Dupuis|first=Jordan|website=Le Journal de Montréal|access-date=2017-01-14}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/wtf/polish-official-ridiculed-across-the-internet-after-he-was-caught-inventing-a-fake-country/news-story/da38a5d2f4e0ae28ab100d6923e9f91c|title=Fancy an exotic getaway to San Escobar?|newspaper=NewsComAu|access-date=2017-01-14}}
Internet phenomenon
File:Ambasada San Escobar.jpg, Poland]]
The country gained a significant presence on the Internet and was spontaneously given a fictitious identity on social media,[https://www.facebook.com/sanescobarcountry/ San Escobar Facebook page] including photographs, maps, and a flag featuring blue, white, and green stripes and a yellow 5-pointed star in a red triangle. The Facebook page was created by Jarek Kubicki, a member of the Razem political party.[http://wiadomosci.wp.pl/nie-jestem-kijowskim-partii-razem-to-on-stoi-za-profilem-panstwa-san-escobar-6079394101535873a "Nie jestem Kijowskim partii Razem". To on stoi za profilem państwa San Escobar]
Within a day, the hashtag #SanEscobar was tracked by over 2 million people and became the most popular within the Polish segment of Twitter. San Escobar also became a subject of numerous joke news reports, such as those about an appointment of a military attaché and its nice ecology. A good deal of them played upon drug lord Pablo Escobar, popularized via the TV series Narcos.
A Twitter account for 'República Popular Democrática de San Escobar' ({{mono|@rpdsanescobar}}) quickly rose to prominence after it was established. It announced full support for Waszczykowski in his endeavor and issues 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 Poland—San Escobar relations. San Escobar issues a newspaper, San Escobar Times (also on Twitter).
San Escobar also became a popular travel destination via El Niño Airlines. For a while, the phrase "A może rzucić to wszystko i polecieć do San Escobar?" (English: "Maybe I better drop it all and fly to San Escobar?"), a play on the Polish saying "A może rzucić to wszystko i wyjechać w Bieszczady", became very popular. Ticketing service Fru wrote that there are only one-way tickets to San Escobar. Netflix (the creator of Narcos) also allegedly claimed that it already has airline tickets to sell.[http://wyborcza.pl/7,75398,21227041,san-escobar-co-wiemy-o-nowym-sojuszniku-polski-ktorego-pozyskal.html "San Escobar - co wiemy o nowym sojuszniku Polski, którego pozyskał minister Witold Waszczykowski?"] 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.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/11/san-escobar-how-polands-foreign-minister-helped-create-a-fake-country/ San Escobar: How Poland’s foreign minister helped create a fake country] - Washington Post
Waszczykowski quickly became a target of various forms of derision. For example, a newspaper published suggestions of other countries for Waszczykowski to consider, such as San Serriffe or various micronations.[http://wyborcza.pl/7,75400,21227996,san-escobar-przetarl-droge-na-spotkanie-z-ministrem-waszczykowskim.html "San Escobar przetarł drogę. Na spotkanie z ministrem Waszczykowskim czekają przedstawiciele innych nieistniejących państw"],Gazeta Wyborcza January 11, 2017
On January 20, 2017, Comedy Central Poland recorded an anthem of San Escobar sung by Eric Cartman, an animated South Park character.[https://www.facebook.com/ccpl/videos/10158109851845022/ Hymn San Escobar] – Comedy Central Polska
In 2017, Waszczykowski won the Polskie Radio Program III listener's poll "{{ill|Silver Lips|pl|Srebrne Usta}}" for the most surprising or funniest utterance by a Polish public figure. While receiving the award, Waszczykowski commented: "I'd rather expect the note of recognition from the Geographical Society. It did not arrive."[https://www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-z-kraju,3/srebrne-usta-za-2017-rok-rozdane,827481.html " Triumf San Escobar. Rozdano "Srebrne Usta" za 2017 rok" ]
The phenomenon of San Escobar became the subject of a scholarly paper.Ewa Badyda, Lucyna Warda-Radys. [http://www.ejournals.eu/pliki/art/10217/ 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)
See also
{{Portal|Poland|Politics}}
- List of fictional countries
- Veyshnoria
- Listenbourg
- {{section link|Uryupinsk|In popular culture}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://twitter.com/rpdsanescobar San Escobar] on Twitter
- [http://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/ludzieistyle/1690910,1,szczegolowa-mapa-san-escobar-kraju-ktory-rzekomo-nie-istnieje.read Map of San Escobar]
{{Fictional countries}}
Category:Fictional countries in the Americas
Category:Internet memes introduced in 2017
Category:Foreign relations of Saint Kitts and Nevis
Category:Poland and the United Nations
Category:Fictional island countries
Category:Political Internet memes