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Argentina's Economy Minister Calls for Law Against 'Unsubstantiated' Journalism; President Milei Backs Attack on Press
🇦🇷 Argentina /Elections & Politics

Argentina's Economy Minister Calls for Law Against 'Unsubstantiated' Journalism; President Milei Backs Attack on Press

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Caputo called for a law to penalize journalists publishing "unsubstantiated claims."
  • President Javier Milei supported Caputo, attacking the press and calling journalists "liars" and "human garbage."
  • The calls follow a journalist's report linking Caputo to a private firm, which Caputo denied.

Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo has called for legislation to punish journalists who publish "unsubstantiated claims," following a report that linked him to a private firm, which he vehemently denied.

I have never in my life even heard of a Lenor group or a Made businessman. But it seems that, for certain journalists, lying is an acquired right.

— Luis CaputoArgentina's Economy Minister denying allegations of favoritism and criticizing journalists.

Caputo took to social media to reject allegations of favoritism towards businessman Julio Made and his firm, Lenor, made by journalist Beto Valdez on X. "I have never in my life even heard of a Lenor group or a Made businessman. But it seems that, for certain journalists, lying is an acquired right," Caputo stated. He proposed, "Justice should act. We need a law that punishes these types of behaviors. It is not reasonable for someone to write things without any basis and have no consequences."

President Javier Milei strongly backed Caputo's remarks, posting "UNMASKING LIARS" and later adding, "You have to be VERY SHITTY to take a tax cut as something bad... Argentine journalists (96.7%)... CIAO...!!!" Milei also responded to Federico Domínguez of the Faro Foundation, who refuted a report about economic policy disagreements, calling journalists "lying human shit" and accusing them of "lying and operating so much with the issue of usury."

Justice should act. We need a law that punishes these types of behaviors. It is not reasonable for someone to write things without any basis and have no consequences.

— Luis CaputoArgentina's Economy Minister proposing a law against journalists publishing unsubstantiated claims.

Caputo also criticized a report by LA NACION that detailed tensions between the government and the media, citing a count of 335 messages from the Executive against communicators. He argued the headline should be the opposite: "The attack BY journalism intensifies. A sector of journalism attributes to itself the right to lie and slander, but we must not get angry or expose their calumnies."

UNMASKING LIARS

— Javier MileiArgentine President supporting Economy Minister Luis Caputo's criticism of the press.

The LA NACION report highlighted that in one week, the Executive branch targeted 16 journalists by name and nine media outlets, including Clarín, LA NACION, Infobae, and Perfil. The government's actions have intensified scrutiny on press freedom in Argentina.

You have to be VERY SHITTY to take a tax cut as something bad... Argentine journalists (96.7%)... CIAO...!!!

— Javier MileiArgentine President attacking journalists in response to a report on economic policy.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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