In his speech on Friday, Milei confirmed one of the attacks that he had been threatening since the campaign: the closure of Télam. It is the state news agency, with correspondents throughout the country and a strong union organization that has allowed it to resist various closure attempts.
This midnight those threats took another step. The City Police began to set up a fence at the doors of the agency. The delegates and leaders of SiPreBA present at the scene strongly denounced: “Attack on freedom of expression. They fence a public means, Télam, in the middle of midnight. “The national government is carrying out one of the worst attacks on freedom of expression in the last 40 years of democracy.”
In the video you can see how police and GCBA personnel carry out the fencing, on the sidewalk of the place, in the center of Buenos Aires.
Attack on freedom of expression. They fence a public means, Télam, in the middle of midnight.
The national government is carrying out one of the worst attacks on freedom of expression in the last 40 years of democracy. pic.twitter.com/A2mY3CX4jK
— We are Télam (@somostelam) March 4, 2024
Furthermore, since dawn the agency’s page was taken down, which was replaced by a national shield in a clear act of provocation and censorship. While a message was circulating informing them of a “work waiver” that forces them not to go to work for a week, a time that the government is seeking to move forward with the dismantling and emptying.
The workers of Télam had announced a series of measures for this Monday. At 12:30 p.m., a hug to the agency. At 2 p.m. there was a general assembly where they were going to discuss the steps to follow. That is why the fence is a clear provocation on the part of the authorities.
From “Somos Télam”, the account of the internal commission, they indicated that “from FATPREN and SiPreBA we are going to do everything necessary to defend the National News and Advertising Agency and those who work in it and guarantee daily the right to communication and the right to information in a society. Also to each of the public media and all state companies.”
Democracy is in danger. The Government is closing in @AgenciaTelam right now, with workers inside. This is an attack on press freedom and hundreds of jobs. Télam was created by law and only by law can it be closedpic.twitter.com/xNu3MXrjBw
— Gonza Carranza 🏳️🌈 (@gonzaIcarranza) March 4, 2024
The image of authoritarianism. pic.twitter.com/mjlmbGmubf
— Myriam Bregman (@myriambregman) March 4, 2024
Delegates and workers who were present in the editorial office called on press workers and solidarity organizations to come to the place to reject the closure, the loss of hundreds of jobs and the attack on the right to information.
We must turn the fight against the closure of Télam into a witness fight. As well as those of Aerolíneas Argentinas, which today has layoffs at the outsourced GPS, and the brutal attacks on salaries and retirements. A general strike by the CGT and the CTA to initiate a plan to combat the chainsaw plan is increasingly necessary and urgent.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
