By Maira Magro
Clarín, a major Argentine newspaper, published an editorial Tuesday, June 29, accusing Cristina Kirchner's administration of “systematically attacking the independent press” and creating an “apparatus of private and state media to advertise for the government.” Clarín maintains a troubled relationship with the government.
The editorial states that private media with a pro-government stance are growing thanks to official advertising, and the use of public media for government propaganda. “As much by the support for private media as by the use of public media, the government is deriving public resources for its own purposes," the editorial said.
Clarín is publishing a series revealing confidential messages from the ex-ambassador of Venezuela that indicate a supposed irregular commercial link with that country, in which entrepreneurs would have to pay commissions on their exports through a "parallel embassy" led by the Ministry of Planning.
The government denied the existence of such a scheme and asked the House of Representatives to divulge the contents of the testimony given to the House by the ex-ambassador, according to La Nación. The Minister of the Interior, Florencio Randazzo, accused “monopolistic information groups” of “mounting an operation against the government” and "falsifying" the declarations of the diplomat to the House, 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.
