Deputies from different blocs expressed their solidarity with the journalist in the face of repeated presidential attacks, warning about a «worrying advance» against freedom of expression and an attempt at «self-censorship.»
The Government’s climate of hostility towards critical journalism has added a new and serious chapter. Since the beginning of his administration, the President has consolidated a dynamic of direct confrontation based on virulence and intimidation. What for the ruling party is «communication without filters», today is perceived as a open and systematic offensive against those professionals who exercise the necessary supervisory role in any democracy.
The most recent episode targets the journalist Nacho Gironwho has been denouncing constant attacks by the presidential investiture. This siege, which combines insults and public disqualifications, is not an isolated event, but rather the validation of a mechanism that seeks to discredit the integrity of press professionals who point out inconsistencies or raise questions about management.
The voice of the opposition and institutional repudiation
The seriousness of the situation has transcended the journalistic field, generating unanimous repudiation in sectors of the opposition. National deputies from different political spaces have used their social networks to express their solidarity with Girón and warn about the dangerous institutional implications of these attacks.
The national deputy Maxi Ferraro (Civic Coalition) was forceful in denouncing the systematic nature of the attacks. In a message that Girón publicly thanked, Ferraro stated:
«All my solidarity @nachogiron in the face of the repeated attacks he has been receiving from President Javier Milei.»
Ferraro warned that the presidential conduct is not innocuous: «The constant disqualifications and attacks not only affect Nacho, they represent a worrying advance on the free exercise of journalism»said the legislator, highlighting the risk it implies for democratic health.
The representative expressed herself along the same lines Julia Strada (Unión por la Patria), who framed the presidential attacks in a strategy of intimidation:
«My hug and my solidarity with @nachogiron who is being openly harassed since the presidential inauguration because – nothing more, nothing less – he does his journalistic work very well.»
For Strada, the objective of Milei’s behavior is clear: «That’s why Milei harasses him, of course. The objective is self-censorship.»
Amnesty International’s repudiation
In a context of growing concern, Amnesty International spoke out to repudiate official harassment. The organization warned that the president’s use of social networks and public speech to attack journalists constitutes a dangerous practice that violates international standards of press freedom.
The organization pointed out that this type of presidential reaction not only seeks to discredit the professional, but also generates a climate of hostility which can lead to physical attacks or the silencing of critical voices. For Amnesty, the situation in Argentina reflects an institutional deterioration where the Executive power uses its amplification capacity to «discipline» the press.
The defense of the office: «There are already too many attacks»
Faced with the escalation, Nacho Girón himself broke the silence, exposing the pressure under which communication professionals work. In thanking the expressions of solidarity, the journalist from the TN signal and CNN Radio was explicit about the nature of the retaliation he faces.
«There are already too many attacks just for doing my job, like giving information or doing an interview… to libertarians»lamented Girón, who also stressed that his reports are based on «data; no opinion»exposing official intolerance to empirical evidence.
A context of alarming deterioration
Since last week, this trend has taken on an unusual aggressiveness, configuring a scenario of serious deterioration of freedom of expression in Argentina. When the word and the presidential broadcasting apparatus are used to single out and persecute journalists, the pact of elementary institutional respect is broken and society’s right to be informed without interference from power is violated.
The work of the press is not complacency, but the supervision of the power in power. That a government reacts with such virulence and systematicity to the exercise of this task is an alarm signal that national and international organizations are already monitoring with growing concern.
