Florence Pagole
Primary elections took place in Argentina on June 13th. The country is in a political situation of complete uncertainty.
The primaries determined which parties have the right to participate in the national elections that will take place in October 2023 and which list each political party represents.
That was the surprise Javier MileiThe ultraconservative economist and leader of the La Libertad Avanza party was the candidate with the most votes and is therefore the favorite for the parliamentary elections.
Elections in Argentina: Candidate insults journalists
Days after PASO (as the area codes are called in Argentina) the National Academy of Journalism (ANP, in its Spanish acronym) issued a statement rejecting “presidential candidate Javier Milei’s recent and offensive references to journalism.”
“In most cases, Milei quoted journalism in a defamatory manner without naming anyone, which makes his crimes even more unfair,” continued the ANP statement, signed by the institution’s president, Joaquín Morales Solá, and its secretary, Silvia Naishtat. was signed.
“In other cases, Milei’s supporters chanted insulting refrains in front of the candidate against journalists by first and last name and with demonstrably false accusations.”
In his closing speech on the campaign trail, the presidential candidate referred to journalists as “Roñosos,” a term associated with dirty and shabby.
On the same day that Milei voted at the National Technological University, the public television crew covering the event was attacked. Journalist Gabriela Radice reported on the scene that a group of people took her microphone and began attacking her:
“We’ll tell you what happens. Someone took the microphone away from me, it was disrespectful, violent and not the best way to work.”
In this context, the ANP statement calls on the presidential candidates to “maintain a climate of democratic tolerance in public life and respect the duty of journalism to provide information and the right to express its diverse opinions.”
Also read | Freedom of expression is declining in Brazil and around the world; The country is ranked 87th in the world
Who is Javier Milei, favorite in the elections in Argentina?
Milei is 52 years old, leader of the La Libertad Avanza party and describes himself as “libertarian.”
In the primaries in Argentina, better known as PASO, he had more votes than the two political forces that have ruled the country for the last two decades: the Juntos por el Cambio parties (led by the former president). Mauricio Macri) and Unión por la Patria (from the PeronistKirchnerist government coalition).
Milei has therefore positioned itself as the favorite for the presidential elections in Argentina, which will take place in October 2023. The candidate has proposals such as dollarizing the economy, privatizing public companies and opposing the legalization of abortion, among other proposals.
In 2022, the Association of Argentine Journalists’ Organizations (ADEPA, its Spanish acronym) had already accused Milei, who is also a national deputy, of “judicial persecution”.
According to the Clarín newspaper, the candidate filed a lawsuit against five journalists for “impairment of honor,” “moral damage,” and his “right of reply.”
Milei demanded one million pesos (around R$14,000) from each journalist Pablo Duggan, Fabian Doman, Paulo Vilouta, Deborah Plager It is Martin Candalaft who described his comments on their respective broadcasts as “fascist”, “Nazi” and “Hitlerist”.
Also read | Ecuador: Reporters Without Borders calls for protection for journalists ahead of the elections
Candidate threatens the safety of Argentine journalists
The LED Freedom of Expression + Democracy Foundation described the legal action as an “attempt at intimidation aimed at disciplining criticism or silencing any questions or disagreements about his work as a congressman or the expression of his ideas as a political leader.”
However, ADEPA not only singled out Milei in its statement, but also expressed concern about “growing intolerance towards the press.”
And it included statements from the current president, Alberto Fernandezwho accused the media of “intoxicating people’s minds.”
In the annual report “Restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression Argentina 2022”, the LED Foundation emphasizes that the confrontation between the government and the press, as well as the use of the courts as an instrument of direct or indirect censorship, are the main causes of obstacles in the country to the free exercise of journalism.
In this sense, they place particular emphasis on the use of terms such as “fake news,” “lawfare,” and “hate speech” to “delegitimize journalists.”
Journalist Diego Rojas, who writes regularly for Infobae and lives in Buenos Aires, said in an interview with LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) that it is “uncertain what will happen if Milei wins the parliamentary elections in Argentina, and everyone shares that. “His presidency could evolve.”
If elected president of Argentina, Milei stated that he would eliminate official advertising in the media. The ANP has already rejected this possible measure.
Also read | Digital libel, espionage and even lese majeste: the report shows which forms of judicial harassment are most often used against the press
Censorship is increasing in Argentina
In 2022, according to the LED Foundation, there were 182 cases that involved direct or indirect censorship and restricted the exercise of freedom of expression in Argentina.
“The security situation of journalists in the country is closely related to our position and the combat processes we conduct,” he said Camila Parodi to LJR. She is a feminist journalist, social anthropologist and member of the editorial team march.
“We who come from feminist journalism, popular journalism or selfmanaged media are persecuted and hurt.”
She explained that this violence is being carried out against “journalists who are laying bodies on the streets.”
The journalist gave the example of Facundo Molares, an Argentine communist militant, former FARC fighter in Colombia and Photojournalistwho died a few days before PASO as a result of violence by the Buenos Aires police during a demonstration at the city’s obelisk.
Also read | Argentine photojournalist who fought in the FARC has died after being arrested during protests in Buenos Aires
Journalist died in preelection protests in Argentina
It should be noted that at the time of the repression, Molares was not exercising his profession, but his right to protest. According to Parodi, violence against journalists has also been occurring online for some time.
“Feminist journalists are constantly and daily harassed by haters on the networks and all kinds of antiright groups who are trying to legitimize themselves in these areas that are not yet regulated by law.”
Parodi said that in times of repression, the police practice violence when working on the streets, especially in the territory and when covering demonstrations. According to her, violence occurs in the following ways:
“Begging us not to broadcast, pushing us, taking photos of us, pointing at us, that’s the kind of control.”
Another example Parodi cited is the attacks and arrests of journalists during popular demonstrations in Jujuy, a province in northern Argentina that borders Bolivia.
On June 20, the provincial government led by Gerardo Moralesagreed to a constitutional reform that would impose restrictions on freedom of protest in the province.
The dissatisfaction of a large part of Jujuy’s population is so great that mass marches and demonstrations against the law took place this month and subsequently.
In this context, the Argentine prosecutor’s office reported acts of persecution and aggression by security forces, intimidation with rubber bullets, surveillance and photography of journalists, and arrests, according to the newspaper Página 12.
Also read | Peru: Reporters attacked during protests and OAS orders government to protect investigative journalists
The journalists’ association is concerned about violence during the election period
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed concern about the actions of security forces in the runup to elections in Argentina, which led to injuries and arrests of journalists.
Among them is Daniel Bello, a photojournalist for the national news agency Télam, who was hit in the face by a rubber bullet. The journalists Luciano Aguilar, from La Izquierda Diarioand Camilo Galli from the portal El Submarino were arrested.
Because of these events, the group Unidxs Autoconvocadxs Journalists from Jujuy has published a special report describing the violation of the rights of journalists present at the June 2023 demonstrations in Jujuy and the difficulties they faced in carrying out their work.
The collective complains that as a result of the repressive measures, dozens of people have been arrested, almost a hundred criminal charges have been filed and more than 150 people have been injured.
Also read | Check out the best and worst regions in the world for press freedom in 2023
Journalists attacked during demonstration in Jujuy
They collected several direct witness statements about the journalists’ situation. Johana Arce, communicator and photographer at Sisas Medio, lives in Jujuy and was attacked during the demonstrations. In an interview with LJR she said:
“On June 20, I was hit in the face by rubber bullets right in the eye while I was covering the camera.
On June 17, in Purmamarca, my photography equipment and a cell phone were broken, and I was also hit at work.”
Other press people covering the demonstrations also suffered from “broken photographic equipment, beatings, arrests and rubber bullets, even when identified with cameras and press credentials,” Arce said.
“This proves that there is persecution in carrying out the communications role as press professionals and there is no protection for communicators.”
For Arce, “the aim of these attacks and government censorship is to prevent the spread of information and create terror,” since “the fear is how this will be communicated and under what circumstances it could happen again.”
Like Parodi, he believes the most affected are journalists from community, independent, indigenous and territorial media in the region.
About the author
Florencia Pagola is a freelance journalist from Uruguay. She researches and writes about human rights and freedom of expression in Latin America.
This article was originally published in LatAm Journalism Review, a project of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas (University of Texas at Austin). All rights reserved by the author.
Also read | Brazil becomes a member of the global initiative for democracy in the media
