By Maira Magro
The Argentine government today, Aug. 24, will release a 400-page report that supposedly shows ties between the country's two largest newspapers and the military dictatorship (1976-1983), reported the news agency Télam. The document analyzes the newspapers' purchase in 1976 of Papel Prensa, Agentina's largest producer of newsprint. The newspapers share ownership of the company with the Argentine government.
According to the government, the newspapers' control of the newsprint company's stock was obtained during an illegal sale during the dictatorship, when the former owners of Papel Prensa were tortured, reported LaNoticia1. The newspapers, Clarín and La Nación, deny any irregularities and argue that the torture occurred after the sale.
La Nación said the report accuses the newspaper editors of supposed illegal pressures, crimes against humanity, and coercion. The report, "Papel Prensa: The Truth” will be presented at the executive mansion before an audience comprised of politicians, ambassador and invited business owners, according to the Spanish news agency EFE.
Clarín and La Nación have denounced in their pages the persecution by the government, reported La Tercera. In an editorial published Sunday, Aug. 22, Clarín said: “The national government is trying to seize the assets of Papel Prensa and control the business, managing the national production of paper for printing newspapers, and subjugating independent media."
The Inter American Press Association and the International Broadcast Association also denounced the "escalation against independent media" in Argentina, reported Clarín.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
