Freedom of expression or impunity for operations …

"Do not confuse the freedom of the press with crimes." With a remarkable economy of words, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, said in the middle of the political-journalistic press unleashed around the report of the Provincial Commission of the memory. This document was prepared at the request of Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla about the investigation that he is conducting on the operation of an illegal association dedicated to extortion.

The scandal revolves around the likely involvement of journalists in the extortion mechanism, revealed by the lawsuit filed by one of the victims, Etchebest business man. The investigation is based on a profusion of evidence on the criminal network which, in principle, was coordinated by a false lawyer named Dalessio, who claimed to be an agent of the DEA (American organization to fight against drug trafficking). It's not just a police episode: all the evidence gathered so far indicates the existence of a useful judicial-political apparatus and a journalist to persecute the most important political sector in the world. 'opposition. The group has combined this strategic function with the collection of significant amounts of blackmail for those involved in the cases, in exchange for the "protection" of its members.

What does this painting have to do with freedom of the press? Major media groups have established a curious – and obviously misleading – articulation based on the imputation and subsequent prosecution of Clarín journalist Daniel Santoro. From there, a case presentation strategy is put in place to attack the free exercise of journalism and the secrecy of sources of information, as if the responsible journalist (and others who appear differently in the testimonies collected to the investigation of Judge Padilla) was treated by published journalistic information. It must be said that Santoro, unlike many people in a similar procedural situation, has not been deprived of his liberty and has no restrictions on the practice of his profession. The Irurzun Doctrine has not been applied to him because, as he is not known to maintain sympathetic ties with the Kirchnerist governments, he can not be attributed an intention to tarnish the process. Santoro enjoyed and enjoyed all constitutional and legal judicial guarantees. He is not questioned about the contents of his journalistic notes, but about the functionality of his conduct for the acts of an illegal association. In addition, Santoro has been provisionally exempted from the accusation of being part of this association, due to the lack of definitive proof in this regard.

It is not too difficult to deduce that it is not the freedom of the press that is at stake in this scene. This is the existence of an action plan clearly linked to the strategy of the judicial war that the US government is encouraging in the countries it considers to be part of its colonial backyard. The current American ambassador to Argentina, Edward Prado, vehemently clarified in his first statements when he took office. He said he was satisfied with the policies put in place by President Macri. He praised the focus on promoting the investigation into the death of Nis prosecutor

Man explained that he wanted US investments to arrive in the country and said he wanted to "help" the judiciary to create better conditions for these investments. How do you dissociate these bold definitions from the blatant interference with one of the powers of the Argentine state that they explain from what has happened in recent years in the Argentine judicial system?

Now, what is the place that this strategy of imperial power reserves for the media? We have seen in recent years: the press, which enthusiastically accompanied the catastrophic experience of the Macri government, was its main mechanism of legitimation. A black legend of the kirchnerist governments was built, they were identified with political extremism, they were associated with international terrorism, they were accused of exclusive political corruption, as if the collusion between big private entrepreneurs and the 'State was born those years, as if the family and the personal fortune of the current president had nothing to do with this phenomenon. Kyrchnerist governments have been replaced by political and communicative persecutions, whereas in the previous period no opponent was deprived of his freedom and rights, and no journalist had lost his job because of his political opinion.

The investigation of Judge Ramos Padilla is of extraordinary political importance. A group of criminals is not the subject of an investigation (only). We are confronted with a case that illustrates a fundamental plot, expressing the way in which real power is evolving in Argentina, according to which we do not vote in any election, that which is not subject to any legal control. This power, that of money, that of influence, is the real niche of corruption and impunity in the country. The government that has agitated these days was the most institutionally representative of this utterly defenseless plutocracy in the interest of the country and its citizens, the most attached to corruption and national decline. Freedom, which the President now exercises in his pathetic farewells, must be understood as the absolute impunity of the powerful. Therefore, one of the misunderstandings that must be clarified at this stage is the unusual attempt to attribute to the experience of these years the condition of a period of "institutional strengthening".

Freedom of expression has nothing to do with the impunity of journalists. To really defend and classify it, and not as a license for political operation and abuse of power, criticism of information monopolies, promotion of alternative voices, systematic protection of plurality, rejection of censorship against opinions is necessary. dissidents, as it has been systematically practiced over the past four years. The opening phase is a new opportunity to strengthen this substantial aspect of democracy.