MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Journalists' guild says Milei crossed the line

Fopea urged Milei and other people in positions of power to perform their duties with moderation

Argentina's Forum of Journalists (Fopea) Tuesday condemned President Javier Milei for his “aggravating and violent expressions” against journalists Jorge Fernández Díaz, Carlos Pagni, and Alfredo Leuco, whom he accused of “poisoning people,” lying, and causing economic harm.

 Fopea criticized Milei's hostile rhetoric as undermining democratic dialogue and fostering symbolic and physical violence against journalists, urging him to exercise moderation and respect press freedom.

“Fopea deplores the aggravating and violent expressions of the president Javier Milei towards journalists, in the framework of an extensive interview broadcast this Monday, and expresses its concern for the reiteration of a hostile discourse that stigmatizes those who practice journalism in Argentina,” the entity expressed in a statement.

The organization argued that Milei “used personal disqualifications and accusations against colleagues such as Jorge Fernández Díaz, Carlos Pagni and Alfredo Leuco, whom he accused of 'poisoning people', 'lying' and 'operating' to generate economic damage, in a verbal escalation incompatible with the position he represents.”

“President Milei went so far as to say” he would put on his boxing gloves to chat with the reporters he mentioned and warned them that they should bear with it should he hit back. “Do you want to hit me?” Milei challenged them.

“This type of expressions, uttered by the highest institutional authority of the country, transcend the field of legitimate criticism and become a message of confrontation, intolerance and violence with real consequences,” Fopea argued while warning against “promoting a climate of hostility towards journalism: it not only deteriorates democratic debate, but also enables scenarios of symbolic and physical violence, such as those suffered by colleagues from different editorial lines during recent public coverage.”

“Journalism can and should be questioned, discussed, and analyzed, but never from personal disqualification or from a power that seeks to silence with grievances. Freedom of the press is not a privilege of the sector, but a guarantee for all citizens,” Fopea insisted while urging Milei “as well as the rest of the political leadership, to exercise their responsibilities with moderation, respect and democratic commitment, and to maintain a mature institutional relationship with the press, respecting dissent and criticism.”

“The presidential role does not enable aggravation, far from it, it demands temperance. The constant delegitimization of journalism by those in power does not contribute to solving the country's problems: it fester and distances us from the essential exercise of democratic dialogue,” Fopea went on.