MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Major Buenos Aires newspaper attacked with Molotov cocktails

“It is not serious about what happened, but it is very serious about what it means,” said Clarín's editor Ricardo Roa

Hooded attackers launched Molotov cocktails late Monday at the building of the Buenos Aires leading daily Clarín, but no injuries or material damage were reported other than fuel stains and traces of a small fire.

 Video footage caught by the building's security cameras shows the attackers throwing explosives on the sidewalk and into the entrance hall thus starting a fire which was subsequently put out. The hooded attackers walked past the building's main entrance on Piedras street in the Barracas district when they lit and threw between 7 and 8 Molotov cocktails. Security personnel reported the event at of the fact: at 11:05 pm on Monday.

At 11:15 p.m., firefighters arrived at the scene as a mere technicality because there was already no fire. Federal Judge Luis Rodríguez is investigating the case. The authorities have launched an appeal looking for witnesses of the events while videos from security cameras in the vicinity were being sought.

“We are waiting for the fact to be investigated, it is not serious about what happened, but it is very serious about what it means,” said Clarín's senior editor Ricardo Roa in a radio interview.

“There was an attack at night, they dropped the bombs and left. There was no major damage,“ he added as he claimed ”intolerance“ against the press was behind the event.

“There were no pamphlets, we don't know who they are. It has the stench of those little anarchist groups that go through life doing similar things. If you look back, there have been these kinds of things” against lorries distributing printed copies of Clarín. “It is a minority group, which has not been identified,” and is yet unknown who they might be linked to.

After the attack, the Clarín Group has issued a statement saying “there were no victims or significant material damage” after a fact which “at first glance, appears as a violent expression of intolerance against a media outlet.”

Other media outlets and several politicians have joined Clarín in repudiating the criminal events.

The Association of Argentine Journalistic Entities (ADEPA) issued a press release in which it strongly condemned the attack: ”It is a violent expression of intolerance against a group of media and constitutes a serious attack on freedom of expression, and demands the quick clarification and punishment of those responsible.”