How many hours of his sleep will the President dedicate to planning his virulent attacks against any media outlet or journalist who dares to question some of his decisions? Only a range of delusions, nightmares and divine (or infernal) revelations justifies absurd sizes. Their insults, attacks, threats and the exercise of a power to which, for now, no democratic limits have been set, are harshly hitting an activity whose mission is, precisely, to put white on black the policies and actions of governments and others. centers of power.
In truth, these excrescences that Milei has been distributing with a fan as soon as he is given a second of time to do so (as could be seen in the three hours of the interview that Alejandro Fantino conducted with him days ago), should serve to bring journalists and independent means to adopt some preventive measures and, even better, to respond to such attacks. My proposal, a couple of weeks ago, to make a void in the press conferences? of the presidential spokesperson, no longer seems so far-fetched. Furthermore, it would be healthy for democracy and its full validity if there were no more interviews with the President. In short, he almost never talks about concrete measures in them but rather about his extreme ideas, too extreme to be taken lightly.
We should not be surprised by such virulence against those of us who work to fulfill the mission of bringing the best and most accurate information to public opinion.
Shortly before the change of government, Reporters Without Borders (an international organization defending freedom of expression, based in Paris) dedicated an extensive report to warn about Milei’s positions against independent journalism in Argentina. The director of RSF’s Latin America office, Artur Romeu, said: “Unfortunately, Javier Milei’s aggressive style with the press is not new on the world political scene. He has come to power by replicating the strategy used by other heads of state on the American continent, such as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States, who celebrated his victory. Like them, the new Argentine president uses openly hostile rhetoric towards journalism, taken up and amplified on social networks by his followers. This strategy aims to discredit media and journalists critical of his policies. By announcing that he is willing to describe a sector of the press as an enemy of his government, the arrival of Javier Milei to the leadership of the Argentine Executive is a message of alarm for journalism in the country.
The RSF report clarifies: “Known for his appearances on radio and television as an economic commentator, in the last five years Javier Milei has become increasingly controversial and hostile towards journalists. His aggressiveness is manifested both on social networks and on the public scene. His violent verbal disputes with any critical journalist already constitute an alarm signal for respect and the guarantee of the right to information in the country. The document recalls the various demonstrations against the media and journalists that the now President made public on various occasions before and during his launch as a politician: since 2018 he has described journalists not aligned with his ideas as “stupid”, “ignorant”, “donkeys”. and “liars”, among many niceties. And he accused them – without giving names – of “enveloping”, a clear definition to avoid using the word bribe.
There is much more to say. PERFIL readers deserve to know that this form of “freedom” does not advance, it regresses.