“Disgusting garbage.” The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, launched a new battle against the media by closing the doors of the presidential headquarters to dozens of accredited journalists. He did so in the midst of his meeting with Peter Thiel, the American billionaire who has led Silicon Valley’s approach to Donald Trump. The fury had its ideological correlate.
The anarcho-capitalist’s relationship with journalism in general has been troubled since a series of corruption scandals broke out that directly involve him along with his sister and general secretary of the presidency, Karina Milei. The press conferences had also become a problem for the president’s chief of ministers and spokesman, Manuel Adorniwho was forced to remain silent for weeks due to allegations of alleged undue enrichment.
During the recent Easter, Milei spent hours on The Nation. In the last few hours, the television host also reactivated his slogan of ““We don’t hate journalists enough.”.
In this context, it was decided that reporters accredited at the headquarters of the Executive cannot enter until further notice. The authorities said that this measure derives from a criminal complaint against two journalists from the television channel All News for alleged “illegal espionage.” The accusation is based on footage of hallways and interiors of the Government House, apparently made without authorization. “Total paranoia in La Rosada (headquarters of Government)”, said the portal Online Politics.
The journalists’ room at the presidential headquarters has a long history. There, and in response to the surprising question of an accredited chronicler, José Ignacio López, the then dictator Jorge Videla was forced in 1979 to speak for the first time about those who disappeared for political reasons. Almost all the heads of state spoke in that room, sometimes awkwardly, but they never dared to take the Milei step.
The Argentine Journalism Forum (Fopea) assured that the ban ordered by the Government is “extreme institutional gravity” and limits “the possibility for society to know, understand and control the activity of its rulers.” For its part, Adepa, the entity that brings together all the country’s journalistic entities, recalled that although the debate on the work of the press is “legitimate and welcome”, “insults and personal stigmatization are not, especially when they come from high authorities.”
Thiel’s strange visit
The ban was applied on a day of controversial political aspects. While the journalists learned that they could not enter the Government headquarters, Milei was meeting with Thiel, owner, among other companies, of Palantir Technologies, which has been playing a significant role in the latest armed conflicts as a developer of data analysis platforms, digital espionage, the use of artificial intelligence and drones. Palantir has contracts with the Trump Administration and the Army. Amnesty International denounced her for her role in the Israeli Army’s lethal actions in Gaza.
Thiel is a convinced promoter of “accelerationist” ideas, according to which there is no compatibility between capitalism and democracy. The latter is seen as a limit to technological progress and economic freedom. Thiel, co-founder of the PayPal platform along with Elon Musk, defends a technocratic model where business efficiency replaces politics. For these reasons he has come to Buenos Aires to see with his own eyes the anarcho-capitalist experience for two months. She arrived accompanied by her husband, former BlackRock vice president Matt Danzeisen, and their children. According to the newspaper Profile paid 12 million dollars for a mansion in the most expensive neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires. Other media reported that he only rented that house for a few weeks.
“What Peter Thiel is doing is terrible and having him settle in Argentina is even worse”said centrist leader Elisa Carrió. “It goes against the Republic, democracy and freedoms. It is pure Pentagon, it is the axis of evil.” The presence of the magnate coincides with a moment of strong radicalization of Milei, whose last chapter was known in Jerusalem, where he considered himself not only the new king Solomon but the best sword for defeat the “satanism” of the Marxists.
Subscribe to continue reading
