This Thursday, the Executive of President Javier Milei blocked access to all journalists accredited to the Casa Rosada (headquarters of the Government of Argentina) in order to “ensure national security”as reported through X by the Secretary of Communication, Javier Lanari, after the presentation in the last hours of a complaint against two journalists for filming inside the building.
The Argentine Government disabled the fingerprint registration that allowed entry to some 60 correspondents from different national and foreign media, after the complaint against Luciana Geuna and Ignacio Salerno of the local television signal TN for an alleged security violation in the Casa Rosada, after the broadcast of a filming of areas of the government building.
“The decision of remove fingerprints from journalists Casa Rosada’s credentials were taken preventively following a complaint from Casa Militar (in charge of presidential custody) for illegal espionage. The only purpose is to guarantee national security,” Lanari expressed on his X account.
The traditional press room of the Casa Rosada remains closed, in a fact that many local journalists described as unprecedented, highlighting that it was enabled and operated even during the last civil-military dictatorship in the country (1976-1983).
Tatiana Scorciapino, journalist for the newspaper Tiempo Argentino and accredited at the Government House, told EFE that she and her colleagues found out about the government’s decision when trying to enter the building, located in the Plaza de Mayo, in the center of the city of Buenos Aires, on Thursday morning.
“Until now, we have not had any official communication about why the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei (sister and right hand of the president) decided to prohibit journalists from entering and arbitrarily close the room. Never in national democratic history has something of this caliber occurred,” said Scorciapino.
The communicator considered that this is an attack by the Government not only against the press but also against “citizens and their right to access to information.”
Since shortly after his inauguration, in December 2023, Milei has incessantly targeted the Argentine presswhich he blames for an attempt at destabilization and a negative campaign against his management.
In dozens of daily posts per day, Milei repeats the acronym “NOLSALP,” which stands for “We Don’t Hate Journalists Enough.”
