Argentinian PEN Centre call for reinstatement of dismissed press workers

Buenos Aires, Argentina, 3 July 2018. - PEN Argentina, a chapter of PEN International, repudiates the action of the national government against the state news agency TELAM, which has laid off a total of 354 employees, including journalists and administrators, as announced on 26th July by the minister of Public Media, Hernán Lombardi. In Argentina, since the current government took over, more than 3000 workers have been were dismissed.

“When a journalist is silenced, dismissed, attacked, imprisoned or killed, the human right to communication is at stake and the possibility of freely choosing is lost” - said Luisa Valenzuela, president of PEN Centre Argentina.

TELAM has been a successful model of a news agency that over time has become a federal multimedia company, with representation and coverage throughout the country. It has professionals with more than 20 years in office, who are now being persecuted on politically motivated grounds, as part of a systematic plan to dismantle public media. Since the current government took over in Argentina, more than 3000 press workers have been dismissed since 2017, and a range of repressive actions taken against media outlets including Radio Nacional, TV Pública, Fútbol para Todos and the Arsat satellite.

PEN Argentina demands the immediate reinstatement of all dismissed press workers, in order to protect the right to freedom of expression and guarantee access to information in Argentina.