A Telesur logo on a TV screen with the cancel sign on it. Photo: RedRadioVE.
On World Press Freedom Day, the government of Argentina, headed by Javier Milei, announced the decision to remove Telesur from the Open Digital Television grid. There does not seem to be much “freedom” in this new move silencing a media outlet that provides alternative counter-hegemonic news from Latin America.
On Friday, May 3, the media commissioner of Argentina, Diego Chaher, who had banned the Telam news agency from television a few week ago, sent a letter informing Telesur about the decision, which is to come into effect in 60 days.
Argentina’s Milei government bans Telesur! https://t.co/ihqCGUCl4d
— Orinoco Tribune (@OrinocoTribune) May 4, 2024
“Through this formal means and in exercise of the powers of legal representation that were conferred on me, for the purposes of exercising the power provided for in article 2.2. of the Collaboration Agreement signed on November 20, 2020, I terminate it effective on July 1, 2024,” the letter to Telesur read.
The banning of Telesur comes in the midst of the Argentinian government’s intervention and budget cuts in public media, which recently led to the elimination of overtime payments for staff. This unleashed demonstrations and discontent among the Argentinian people who demand to know how far President Milei will go with his farcical slogan of “long live freedom.”
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Provocation?
The Milei administration’s decision to censor Telesur adds to the constant attacks against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, attacks that range from endorsing the US government’s robbery and destruction of the Venezuelan cargo airline EMTRASUR’s Boeing 747 jumbo jet to the lack of respect for the Venezuelan president by calling him a “dictator,” and regular interventionist comments on the internal affairs of Venezuela.
The undemocratic Argentinian decision speaks of a fairly predictable attitude for a politician aligned with the interests of the White House and Israel. Since Milei’s inauguration, he has abandoned the people, even his own voters, and instead preferred to declare his fanatic support for Donald Trump.
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SC
