A woman assists Telesur cameraman Cristian Ibarra after he was pepper sprayed by Argentinian police while covering a protest. Photo: Telesur.
Argentinian police in Buenos Aires attacked a Telesur journalistic team covering a peaceful protest in solidarity with workers that has been going on for over a week in Misiones province, in the northeast of Argentina.
In the morning of Friday, May 24, a police officer pepper-sprayed Telesur’s cameraman Cristian Ibarra directly in the eyes at close range, causing him considerable damage, while Ibarra was capturing images of union members in the Argentine capital.
Images released by the journalistic team show Ibarra lying on the ground in pain after the attack and being assisted by other people.
En una actitud incomprensible y mientras se desarrollaba una protesta convocada por la CTA-Autonoma, efectivos de la guardia de infanteria del gobierno de la ciudad agredio con gas pimienta a nuestro camarografo Cristian Ibarra. El video de la agresión.@teleSURtv pic.twitter.com/VG0j1LiR6D
— Juan Carlos Bartolotta (@JuanCteleSUR) May 24, 2024
Telesur correspondent Juan Carlos Bartolotta stated that despite the attack, Ibarra continued filming the protest. The protest was called by the Central Workers of Autonomous Argentina (CTA Autonomous) in solidarity with the protests held by workers from various sectors in Misiones province.
The attack came from members of an infantry corps sent to repress the protesters. Bartolotta stated during the broadcast that no one was responsible. At the same time, images of an officer with a gas canister on his belt were shown.
A union member who witnessed the attack said that the troops unnecessarily attacked media workers and union members.
Barlotta accused the head of the Government of Buenos Aires, Jorge Macri, of the repression. He stated that the agents had no need to act violently, as the mobilization took place peacefully, did not block streets, and allowed the normal flow of traffic.
He added that Macri wanted to comply at any price with the security protocol against pickets devised by Javier Milei’s interior minister, Patricia Bullrich.
For over a week, employees of education, health, police, and other sectors in Misiones have been marching to demand salary improvements and the payment of owed salaries. Some sectors received proposals from the provincial government but rejected them after considering that the salary increases were insufficient to address the spike in prices and inflation.
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Prensa Latina reported that the general secretary of the Buenos Aires Press Union (Sipreba), Agustín Lecchi, condemned the police attack on the Telesur cameraman covering the demonstration.
“From Sipreba, we repudiate the police repression of our colleague Cristian Ibarra from the Telesur journalistic team. The government of (Jorge) Macri joins Bullrich’s policy of attacking the press to try to silence social discontent,” Lecchi wrote on social media.
(Últimas Noticias) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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