The Argentine government of ultra-liberal President Javier Milei launched a crusade against inclusive language, banning its use in the army where it was not a policy and announcing its intention to ban it in the national administration as well.
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“By decision of the president, steps are being taken to ban inclusive language and the gender perspective throughout the national public administration,” presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on Tuesday.
“It will not be possible to use the letters e, @, x (used in Spanish to avoid gender indications, editor's note) and the unnecessary use of the feminine will be avoided in all public administration documents,” he continued .
“The language that covers all sectors is Castilian and Spanish,” he stressed, adding that the government “will not initiate a debate on this because we consider that the perspectives of gender issues have also been used as a political argument in trade .”
The use of inclusive language in administration was discretionary under the previous Peronist (center-left) government, but many bodies and institutions published “recommendations” or “usage guides.”
The presidential spokesman spoke the day after the Defense Department's announcement of the sanctions-related ban on the use of inclusive language “within the Department of Defense, the armed forces, the armed forces and the decentralized bodies of the department.”
“The aim is to eliminate incorrect forms of language that can lead to incorrect interpretation of what is desired, which can affect the execution of orders and the progress of military operations,” the ministry reasoned.
Inclusive language and feminization of ranks have not yet been the subject of explicit instructions in the army, but rather a ministerial document from 2020 that was about “supporting cultural changes in gender relations (…) that have emerged over the years are. Years of (military) commitment by women.”
The same document also called for “recognizing good practices” and context rather than “imposing” labels, and noted that “young female officers, in their desire for integration, are generally not compatible with the feminization of ranks and Offices agree.”
The self-described “libertarian” and “anarcho-capitalist” Javier Milei has never made a secret of his opposition to inclusive language, which, along with “gender ideology,” he has accused in the past of “defying values undermined.” of society”.
And when he says he recognizes any freedom to use this language, he believes that when it is disseminated or imposed in a state context, it borders on “indoctrination,” a component of a “cultural Marxism” for him.