Kirchnerism and a Free Press: Oil and Water

Anselm Kiefer
Book with Wings, 1992–94.
From the collection of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

I'm sorry for posting another political post. I promise I'll return to more pics and travel commentary from around Buenos Aires soon.

However, the above sculpture is one of my all time favorite works of art. It is called Book with Wings from the Museum of Modern Art Fort Worth. The wings give freedom to the printed word, something we are seeing less of here in Argentina.

I was shocked the other day, when a fellow blogger and Argentine rancher deleted all of his posts about the farm strike in fear of reprisals from the government. To keep his ID secret, we'll just call him Dandy Michael—not a reference to his sexual orientation, but to his well known moniker.

It seems that actions by the government towards neighboring farmers have served their purpose of silencing a wonderful and balanced viewpoint about life on the farm here in Argentina.

While the government's decision to seize farmers livestock is not a direct attack on freedom of speech, the end result is the same. There are plenty of recent examples that are direct attacks on the freedom of the press.


Cristina no le gusta. This cartoon by Sábat shows a two faced Cristina with her husband (side profile of the face) the hidden voice of the government.

In Cristina's recent rally in the Plaza de Mayo before the rent-a-crowd audience, she held up a very unflatering political cartoon of her and publicly criticized it as a "quasi-mafioso message". Before singling out the cartoon by Hermenegildo Sábat (see image above), she compared the current farm strike to a farm strike right before the 1976 coup that brought in the right-wing military dictatorship responsible for the murder of thousands of Argentines and the suspension of most liberties.

She added, "This time farmers have not been accompanied by tanks, this time they have been accompanied by those large media corporations that in addition to supporting the lock out of the people by the farmers, have locked out the information, changing, misrepresenting, and showing a one-sided opinion."

And soon after that speech, she met with the Social Sciences department at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) to announce the relaunching of a commission called Observatorio de Discriminación en los Medios (Discrimination Observatory in the Media). Its purpose is to investigate the "truthfulness" of the press and make sure it is "fair and balanced" as seen by the government. Yeah right! Kinda of like what FOX News does for our government.

It all sounds like a witch hunt to go after journalist that disagree with the government to me. I don't think Stephen Colbert could make up such a bit.

Need more proof? A report by Reporters Without Borders noted that journalists in the provinces were threatened and harassed by police and the courts. The press was also blackmailed by withdrawal of local government advertising. That was in 2007. In terms press freedom, Argentina ranked 82 out of 167 nations as tracked by Reporters without Borders. After recent events, it will surely drop further.

This trend is troubling because the freedom of the press is a critical foundation for any democratic government. Unfortunately, here it is the only vehicle for people to be heard outside the Kirchners who strongly control congress and all local governments. If you don't like what the government is doing, you can't rely on the traditional separation of powers a strong democracy has. That just does not exist here.

The weak Judiciary is slow and ineffective. Congress is in bed with the government and is just a rubber stamp for whatever the Kirchners want. What the government says here, goes. That only leaves the press to keep citizens informed and to give them a voice.

Hopefully, the Argentine press will continue to stand up for the truth and won't be bullied by the Kirchners when the truth goes against the Kirchners' wishes. The press is the last line of defense for this democracy.

All of this is ironic. Cristina and her husband were once part of the underground movement against the right wing dictatorship and the lack of freedoms that government was known for. Maybe they learned a few too many things from their enemy.

Irony... like the wings above made of lead.

Recoleta Protest: Cristina's speech didn't calm things here.

Young protester with her dad joining the crowd on Pueyrredon

Just returned from the protest here in the Recoleta tonight. It was much bigger than the night before. When talking with people in the crowd, it appears that Cristina didn't do anything to calm the emotions of the middle class here in the Recoleta. (OK...maybe some were well above middle class status.)


Protest Turning onto Santa Fe

The cacerolazo started soon after Cristina's speech. People headed to their windows and balconies and started banging on pots and pans to announce the start.

People then started gathering on the street. I went up a block to the corner of Callao and Quitana where everyone from my neighborhood seemed to gather each night. There was a pretty good crowd, although not as big as the previous night.

When enough had gathered to block the road, everyone marched up to the corner of Santa Fe and Callao. This was the area where all of the groups from Barrio Norte would meet up before marching on to the Obelisco the other nights.

I left the crowd about 9:00 and headed home for dinner.

About 10:00 we heard a large bang of fireworks and the tin of the Cacerolazo approaching our apartment. I grabbed the camera and raced downstairs. I was surprised to see a very large march down Callao.


Protest moving up Santa Fe

I guess the pro-government supporters had occupied the Obelisco and Plaza de Mayo all day. So the Cacerolazo decided to march through the streets tonight.

It was a great tactic. The group drew more and more participants as it marched down Callao. I followed the group of about 3,000 people. down Callao and onto Ave. Libertador. From Libertador, the crowd moved up Av. Pueyrredon and back up to Santa Fe.

All along the way the crowed grew bigger an bigger. And when they reached the intersection of Santa Fe and Callao again the crowd was easily 5,000. Later, they broke out in the national anthem before many left for home around 11:00. It was very moving.


Protest heading to Callao and Santa Fe

The mood was more like being in a parade than a protest. There were families with small children, older couples, soccer mom types, and a large number of young adults. As we passed down the street, the balconies would fill with people banging pots or throwing confetti down on the crowd.


Cristina Maria Antonieta

One thing is clear. The middle and upper classes do not like the Kirschners. They are tired of the bad government and the fact that they have no real congress to stand up for them. They feel the cacerolazo is the only way they can be heard.


I've got a ton of great video. It just takes forever to upload to YouTube. I'll post more as I get it uploaded. I promise.

I'll leave you with a moving video of the singing of the National Anthem:


Right before the Protest Broke up

The Voice of the Government: Luis D'Elía"

D'Elía attacking a man in the Plaza de Mayo

Why is this man the face of the government?

This is the man that sent a small group of thugs into the Plaza de Mayo to break up the protesters supporting the farmers. The self proclaimed voice of the government and the "people".

Who is he? While none other than a former official from Nestor Kirshner's (Cristina's husband) presidential cabinet&mdashLuis D'Elía.

It is not everyday you see an official from the government punching ordinary citizens in the street (see the video clip above from La Nacion) and spewing hatred like this:

"I am replying that I have a visceral hatred for the oligarchy whore (i.e. the farmers) that has its hands full, but filled with blood from people, blood workers, but never had a problem with killing massively "

Translated by Google from La Nacion

And of course this gem:

"You, the north of the city, whites, those who accumulate and concentrate and kill and that the only flag they have in their hands is its own profitability, they have a visceral hatred, sépanlo of my mouth, the only thing I hate it moves against you"

Translated by Google from La Nacion

Here is the link to the full article in spanish. My US friends can read the translated version here.

This is insane. Someone please explain why people like Luis D'Elía are inciting class warfare and splitting this great country instead of trying to solve the problems at hand.

The most outrageous thing? There he was tonight on the stage with the Kirshners as Cristina gave her speech. How can a man like that be allowed to sit on the same stage with them?

BTW...In my previous post when I mocked the woman's boyfriend for saying this was heading to civil war....I sadly retract my statement.

Cristina and Chávez Sitting in a Tree....

Every wonder why Cristina and Chávez always seem to be having a good time when they're together. Maybe they have something going on the side that Néstor doesn't know about?



Put those rumors to rest. We found out today the real reason.



I would be happy too if someone gave me a suitcase with $800,000 US dollars. To be fair, the money never made it to Cristina, but it is the thought that counts right?

Argentina's First Elected Female President... Is the US Ready For the Same?

Photo copyright and stolen from La Nacion
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner took office today as Argentina's first elected female president.

There have been numerous comparisons between Cristina and Hillary Clinton. Both are smart women who went to law school and their husbands preceded them in office as president. That is Cristina's husband in the photo above who as outgoing president had to turn over the keys to his office to his wife.

What does this mean for Argentina? From what I have heard, elections can be anxious times for Argentina. Most election years, people don't know how policy changes from one president to the next will affect them. And they have been burned in the past.

However, after this last election, everyone was resigned to the fact that things would remain the same no matter what they thought of the Kirchners' political record.

Under Señor Kirchner's presidency, Argentina climbed out of one of the biggest economic collapses this continent has ever witnessed. The country has rebounded and had over 5 years of strong economic growth. A little too strong.

The strong growth has let inflation rear its ugly head. The outgoing Kirchner and his wife have been accused of mucking with the inflation index and under reporting the true numbers. Anecdotal evidence from the local supermarket would tend to back the critics.

In retrospect, it was kind of hard for Nestor Kirchner to look bad when your country could fall no lower. The only way was up for Argentina after the collapse of 2001. But now there are storm clouds on the horizon for Cristina's turn. We'll see how well she navigates the rough water ahead.

Likewise, the next US President has one big mess to clean up. A much bigger mess with no easy solutions. I'm afraid things will be much tougher for the next President no matter who he or she is.