Amid Argentine public officials' mounting attacks against the press, the Inter American Press Association asked the Argentine government to "stop harassing and stigmatizing journalists,” reported the news agency Los Andes. The call comes as two more Argentine journalists were victims of officials' anti-press attitudes.
On Monday, May 7, journalist Juan D'Anvers, owner of Radio Brava and the portal Ozono Digital in Puerto Madryn, said that he received death threats for criticizing mayor Ricardo Sastre, reported the news agency Patagónico. D'Anvers received the threat via a text message that said if he did not leave Sastre alone, his body would be found "dismembered in a ditch," reported Patagónico.
Then, on Tuesday, May 8, Rodrigo Castillo, journalist for Misiones Online, was attacked in Candelaria, Misiones, while trying to cover a city council meeting about Mayor Jorge Peña, who had punched another journalist on April 16, reported Misiones Online and the news agency TN.
These cases come as the Argentine Intelligence Agency allegedly launched a plot to discredit journalist Daniel Santoro on May 7.
As explained by Línea Capital, it is essential to secure freedom of expression and of the press to preserve democracy, “which should translate to more freedom and less oppression and intolerance."
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, May 8, the vice-president of Argentina, Amado Boudou, accused the Argentine press of “lying and using freedom of expression with a double standard" and denied that there were conflicts between the Argentine government and the press, reported the Mexican news agency Milenio.
