Leaders from across the opposition spectrum condemned the remarks made by President Javier Milei last night, when he stated that the "sons of bitches" should "burn at the stake" and named several journalists among them, after having been dismissed in the $LIBRA case. Figures from Peronism, the Radical Civic Union (UCR), the Civic Coalition, and PRO, among others, expressed their repudiation and solidarity with the press. Even some representatives of the ruling party in Congress dared to distance themselves from Milei's ferocious attack on the journalists covering the $LIBRA case. When consulted by LA NACION, libertarian congresswoman Silvana Giudici, a key ally of Patricia Bullrich, stated: "The work of journalists is to investigate, dissent, publish information, including their opinions and ideas, with absolute freedom."
"That is something I have always defended; I believe in the press as a balancing factor and a check on power," added Giudici, a leader of Fundación LED (Freedom of Expression + Democracy) and former head of the National Communications Entity (Enacom). During his speech at the Faro Foundation, the president claimed that the case had been "used politically by sectors of the opposition" and by "the LA NACION group and its henchmen to extort the government and evade taxes." He then listed some of the journalists who covered the case (Hugo Alconada Mon, Carlos Pagni, Paulino Rodrigues, Natalia Volosin, and Luis Novaresio) and called them "bribed and corrupt." In a defiant tone, he added: "Let them explain to me who is going to take responsibility now for all the garbage they spread." Seconds later, raising his voice, he warned: "We will fight them with greater audacity! We will pull Argentina out of this hole, and that means going against the entire status quo, and I will do it! But they should know very well that the sons of bitches in Argentina will not be shown mercy. Because, as Adam Smith said, to show mercy to the sons of bitches is to be unjust to the good ones; and here the good ones must do well; the ones who must burn at the stake are the sons of bitches." The cameras showed high-ranking government officials smiling and applauding Milei's remarks: the General Secretary of the Presidency, Karina Milei; Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva; YPF head Horacio Marín; and Congressman Luis Petri, among others. Senator Bullrich, who has been increasingly distancing herself from Milei and has defended press freedom on several occasions, chose to take a sip from her glass and avoided applauding.
Milei's reaction after the ruling that dismissed him in the $LIBRA case
The President's statements sparked strong criticism from opposition leaders. National congressmen from Unión por la Patria Pablo Yedlin, Cecilia Moreau, Sabrina Selva, Nicolás Trotta, and Juan Grabois, belonging to different branches of Peronism, spoke out on social media. From the Massa wing, Moreau commented: "Intolerable and dangerous." When consulted by LA NACION, the lawmaker added: "I found these statements very serious and concerning. The President has once again demonstrated how poorly he gets along with democracy and its fundamental pillars, in this case, freedom of the press."
The Civic Coalition, the party led by Elisa Carrió, came out as a bloc to condemn the attacks. The party's chairman and head of its bloc in the Chamber of Deputies, Maximiliano Ferraro, who chaired the special investigative committee for the $LIBRA case in Congress, called Milei a "scoundrel" and expressed his solidarity with the press. His colleague Mónica Frade wrote: "He carries the pyre within him, and it is burning him. He will be ashes in a year." Along the same lines, the chairman of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), Leonel Chiarella, described the incident as "a matter of enormous institutional gravity."
"Milei used an image that takes us back to the Middle Ages, when those who thought differently were condemned to die in the fire of a pyre," pointed out the mayor of Venado Tuerto. He continued: "This type of behavior should lead us to ask ourselves whether democratic coexistence is possible if everyone follows his example and degrades, with that level of violence, those who do the work of informing."
Meanwhile, Radical congressman Pablo Juliano stated: "This is one of the worst attacks on journalism since the return of democracy. All my solidarity with the attacked journalists. Be careful, Mr. President. He who sows winds reaps storms." The UCR governors, in the midst of negotiations with the government over possible electoral agreements, did not comment on the matter.
From the Socialist Party, congressman Esteban Paulón described him as "deranged, unbalanced, reckless." Also from the Civic Coalition, Buenos Aires City legislator Facundo Del Gaiso stated that Milei "will be remembered for his insults against journalists," and former City legislator Hernán Reyes said: "We are normalizing being governed by a madman." And he asked: "How long until the violence goes from words to action? Who guarantees that he will not cross that line?"
Criticism from the Macri camp
From sectors closer to the ruling party, allies of La Libertad Avanza in Congress criticized the President. The head of the PRO bloc in the Senate, Martín Goerling, told LA NACION: "I think it is an absurdity and madness. Coming from the highest institutional authority in Argentina, he must be careful with that kind of expression. My solidarity with all the journalists insulted in that manner, and of course, I do not share the manner, the substance, or the way the President leads." The Macrist senator suggested that Milei should "focus on the important issues that Argentina needs, on the people who are needing urgent answers to many day-to-day matters."
Last Thursday, the party led by Mauricio Macri issued a statement advocating for the defense of press freedom and maintaining "respect for those who think differently," following the President's day of fury in Madrid, where he insulted Pedro Sánchez and Spanish journalists. However, as of the publication of this article, neither Macri nor other party authorities had spoken out to repudiate Milei's remarks.
Congressman Oscar Zago, head of the Movement of Integration and Development bloc, told LA NACION: "He is going off the rails. It cannot be that everyone who thinks differently is a piece of crap, a human piece of shit, and now we have to burn them at the stake. Someone has to tell him 'enough, let's end this,' because he always goes one step too far."
Reactions within the PJ
"Those who applaud like seals the threat of burning journalists at the stake (a strikingly inquisitional method chosen) are complicit in fanning the flames," wrote Tucumán legislator Yedlin, referring to the audience that celebrated the President's remarks.
For his part, Grabois told LA NACION: "There is a systematic practice of abuse of power with which Milei breaks, day after day, the limits of a democratic state in a constant apology for violence against the groups that bother him. It is a method that feeds on complicity, applause, and silence." The social leader considered it "a fascist method backed by economic power and judicial impunity." "It is outright persecution," he stated.
Furthermore, Grabois argued that the "normalization" of insults by the "pinnacle of power" will have "very serious consequences for Argentine democratic culture." "We are in danger of our country becoming a banana colony under an authoritarian regime," he warned.
By Denise Chmois