Presidential candidate Javier Milei once again had problems with journalism. This time it was with the Tucumán newspaper La Gaceta, which decided to cancel an interview with the libertarian leader after the organizers made it a condition not to touch on three controversial issues of their political proposals, previously restricting what journalists could ask.
The largest Tucuman newspaper reported Tuesday that the interview fell because, "according to those who had established the contacts, they proposed conditions to the talk, such as that they could not be asked questions about issues such as carrying weapons and selling organs and children," La Gaceta published in an editorial.
"Validating that claim – outside of journalistic ethics – would have meant endorsing an affectation of freedom of the press and expression and a lack of respect for our readers," the newspaper added.
One of those issues was important in the interview with Milei, since his candidate for governor of Tucumán, Ricardo Bussi, campaigned proposing the free carrying of weapons, with a controversial spot in which he called on citizens to defend themselves "by shooting."
In fact, Bussi's campaign video generated a harsh debate last March between the libertarian leader and journalist Jésica Bossi, on the TN channel (of the Clarín Group), through which the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) questioned the "aggressions" and "verbal abuse" of Milei towards Bossi and recalled other similar attitudes that the libertarian deputy had with journalists Teresa Frías and Laura Serra.
The journalists of La Gaceta were surprised on Monday with the requests of the organizers of the interview with Milei, since they could not accept restrictions from a politician in election campaign. And they were especially struck by the fact that it was forbidden to ask him about the "sale of children", since it was not a topic that was part of the current public debate.
But after that request occurred, journalists recalled that in June of last year a scandal had been made when Milei said he was in favor of the purchase and sale of human organs and replied "it depends", when asked if he was in favor of the sale of children, an issue that "could be debated" at some point. he said in an interview; although after the scandal he retracted.
Close to Milei they distanced themselves from the requests for restrictions in the questions so that they could interview him in Tucumán. And they assured that this was a decision of Ricardo Bussi's advisers, who organized the interview with La Gaceta.
"We are not aware that this has happened," sources close to Milei told Clarín. And they added: "An interview with the television program of La Gaceta was scheduled, but since after the walk Javier was very tired, he proposed to do the interview in written format, but the media did not accept it. And it was the people who work with Bussi who organized everything, the people who work with Javier had nothing to do with it."
The controversy occurred during the passage of Milei through San Miguel de Tucumán. There he approached to support the legislator of Republican Force, Ricardo Bussi, son of former dictator Antonio Domingo Bussi, and his candidate in the provincial elections that were scheduled for next Sunday, until the Supreme Court decided to suspend them on Tuesday due to questions to the candidacy for vice governor of the current governor Juan Manzur, former chief of staff of Alberto Fernández.
According to the reconstruction that Clarín was able to make with sources from the editorial staff of La Gaceta, Milei had agreed on a note with the newspaper and with the LG Play platform, owned by the multimedia. It had been managed by people around Bussi.
At the last minute, they asked to suspend the audiovisual interview since it was going to take place after a walk through the center. "It was going to be all disheveled, messy, it was not a good image for TV," they said. And they offered to keep the hand-in-hand for the paper edition of the newspaper.
"But the condition was that he not be asked about selling organs, selling children and freely carrying weapons, that this last issue was something of Bussi. We said no. We cannot not ask about things that were installed by them," La Gaceta explained to Clarín.
The interview failed. Nor did the visit that Milei was going to make to the newspaper La Gaceta, on Monday afternoon, which was suspended, after the press conference that the libertarian leader made previously in a hotel.
"It's a shame, because he came two months ago and there was no problem, except for television, that we could not interview him for our program, for an aesthetic reason. But now it is different, because a content restriction appears, which we could not accept, "they said from La Gaceta.
Milei's contact with the Tucumán press took place on Monday morning at a conference attended by several media, and where the same condition imposed by Bussi's people was also present. During that contact, there were few questions that could be asked of the presidential candidate and no journalist asked about these controversial issues.
The libertarian's visit to Tucumán was not without other controversies. On this occasion, it happened during the tour he made through the center of the capital, where he was accompanied by a crowd of fans who took over the pedestrian street. This crowd was braided with several militants from other political spaces, whose stands were broken.
In the official list "Activate", headed by candidates Hugo Ledesma (for legislator) and Sebastián Giobellina (for councilor), they shared on social networks the images of the libertarians while breaking the tent where they were militating the candidacy of the candidate for governor kirchnerista Osvaldo Jaldo.
Milei's cases against journalists
In addition, the deputy and libertarian presidential candidate initiated two millionaire lawsuits against five other journalists to whom he claims $ 5 million, because they accused him of "facho" for talking about the "moral and aesthetic superiority" of libertarians.
In two trials that are still pending before the Justice, Milei denounced journalists Pablo Duggan, Fabián Doman, Paulo Vilouta, Débora Plager and Martín Candalaft. He claims $ 1 million each, "for affectation to honor" and "moral damage", as well as his "right to reply", according to the two complaints filed with the Justice.
One of the complaints is against Duggan, whose case is in National Court No. 103. And the other case was filed in Court No. 33, against the other four journalists.
The situation started when Milei, on Viviana Canosa's television program in mid-2021, assured – almost shouting – that libertarians were "crushing in the cultural battle" the "shitty lefties. We are passing them over, because we are not only beating them in the productive", but also "we are superior morally, superior aesthetically, we are better in everything ... and it hurts," Milei said.
Journalists Plager, Doman, Vilouta and Candalaft criticized Milei's remarks on the June 17 program Intratables. "It's a concept, first, facho," Doman said. To which Plager added: "Totally." And then he said, "Very Hitlerian." For those three words that Plager said, Milei wants him to pay one million pesos, plus the costs of the trial and the salary of the lawyers. Later Duggan also criticized him in similar terms.
Débora Plager in Intratables.
The deputy, who claims to promote freedom, could not stand those words being said about himself. It was a "defamatory rally out of control," Milei said in her complaint. "I cannot overlook this trivialization of the Holocaust by the defendants, as it would mean breaking my public commitment," Milei said.
However, it drew attention among sources in the Jewish community that "his vaunted fight against anti-Semitism" included a judicial complaint against journalist Deborah Plager, who is Jewish and has part of her family killed in the Holocaust, and Fabian David Doman, whose biological father is also Jewish.
Plager's brother was born in Israel, where his parents lived for several years, his mother has much of his work related to the fight against anti-Semitism and his grandfather lost his wife and three of his children killed in a concentration camp.
"I find it unfair that Milei takes me to justice for trivializing the Holocaust, when I have a large part of my family who died in the Shoa (Holocaust)," Plager told Clarín in the middle of last year. He added: "It is an attack on freedom of expression for a political leader to prosecute me and four other journalists for our opinions, which are guaranteed by the Constitution and international conventions."
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