Press Freedom: Media Reform Gets Personal in Argentina January 17, 2017 last updated 14:26 ET Press Freedom: Media Reform Gets Personal in Argentina Anastasia Moloney Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009 When 200 tax inspectors made a surprise visit last week to the editorial offices of Clarin, one of Latin America's largest newspaper and cable TV companies, it was clear that the simmering tensions between the media giant and Argentine President Cristina Fernandez had reached new heights. The day after the raid, the Clarin newspaper ran with the headline: "Official operation of intimidation against Clarin." ... × Cancel during trial and pay nothing. Just $25 quarterly after trial. Try It FREE Cancel during trial and pay nothing. Just $75 annually after trial. Try It FREE BBC News - Argentina country profile Argentina country profile Argentina stretches 4,000 km from its sub-tropical north to the sub-antarctic south. Its terrain includes part of the Andes mountain range, swamps, the plains of the Pampas and a long coastline. Its people have had to struggle with military dictatorship, a lost war over the Falkland Islands, and severe economic difficulties.

Overview Media Argentina is rich in resources, has a well-educated workforce and is one of South America's largest economies. But it has also fallen prey to a boom and bust cycle. A deep recession foreshadowed economic collapse in 2001. This left more than half the population living in poverty and triggered unrest. The country struggled with record debt defaults and currency devaluation. AT-A-GLANCE Politics: President Cristina Fernandez is the wife of former president Nestor Kirchner Economy: The economy has rebounded after hitting rock bottom in 2001, but poverty remains a challenge International: A row over Uruguayan paper mills sours neighbourly relations; Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falklands, a UK overseas territory Timeline By 2003 a recovery was under way, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to a vital new loan. Since then, Argentina has restructured its massive debt, offering creditors new bonds for the defaulted ones, and has repaid its debt to the IMF. But with poverty rife and unemployment high, many Argentines still await the benefits of the economic upturn.

Argentina remains locked in a territorial dispute with Britain over the Falklands Islands, which are governed as a British overseas territory, but have been claimed by Buenos Aires since the 1830s. The issue led to war in 1982, when the islands fell to an invasion launched by Argentina's military junta, but were re-conquered by Britain in a conflict that caused hundreds of deaths on both sides. The defeat led to the fall of the military dictatorship, but the junta's legacy is still an open wound. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the seven-year "dirty war". The bodies of many abductees - known as the "disappeared" - have never been found. Amnesties which protected former junta members from prosecution have been repealed and the legality of pardons granted to military leaders in the 1980s and 1990s is being questioned. Facts Media President: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Cristina Fernandez swept to victory in the first round of Argentina's presidential election in October 2007 - a victory that many attributed to the popularity of her husband, the then President Nestor Kirchner.

Cristina Fernandez, Argentina's first female president Profile: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner She fought the election campaign largely on Mr Kirchner's record of reducing poverty and unemployment in the wake of the 2001-2002 economic crisis - one of the worst the country had ever experienced. But she faced a difficult start to her first term. Soon after being elected, her popularity dropped to 20% as a result of disputes with farmers and media groups. It also was widely believed that before his death in 2010, her husband, who was expected to stand again for the presidency, still ran the country behind the scenes. They suffered a setback in legislative elections in 2009, when their Peronist party lost control of both houses of Congress and Mr Kirchner was beaten in his high-profile bid for a seat in Buenos Aires province, a Peronist stronghold. However, bouyed by a booming economy, Ms Fernandez was re-elected to a second term with a landslide 54% of the vote in October 2011. Her closest challenger won only 17%.

In January 2012, Ms Fernandez underwent surgery to remove her thyroid gland because of suspected cancer that proved to be benign. Ms Fernandez was active in a leftist Peronist movement as a law student in the 1970s, later becoming first a provincial and then a national deputy. She supported her husband - whom she met at university in 1975 - as he rose through the Peronist ranks, and in 1995 became a senator herself. After Mr Kirchner was elected president in 2003, she was his chief adviser, and he also played an important role in her leadership. One of his first jobs was to help with negotiations to release hostages held by the guerrillas in the Colombian jungle. The couple were dubbed "the Clintons of the South", and Ms Fernandez encouraged the comparison by alluding to the similarities between herself and Hillary Clinton during her election campaign. Media Leaders Media Argentina is one of South America's leading media markets. The country has well over 150 daily newspapers, many hundreds of commercial radio stations, dozens of TV stations and one of the world's highest take-up rates for cable TV. Large media conglomerates have emerged. Public broadcasting plays a minor role.

Television is the dominant medium. The main national free-to-air networks - Telefe, America, Canal 9 and Canal 13 - are privately-owned. Argentine readers are among Latin America's most voracious newspaper consumers. Clarin and La Nacion are the best-selling national dailies. Media freedom is guaranteed by the constitution. However, US-based Freedom House says the poor relationship between the government and the media is an obstacle to journalism. In particular, it cites "open hostility" towards the media giant, Grupo Clarin. Tactics used to "silence" the group have included blocking newspaper distribution and interfering with newsprint supplies. By December 2011, Argentina had 28 million internet users, comprising 67% of the population (Internetworldstats.com) and giving the country the second-highest number of surfers on the continent, after Brazil. The press What is the most popular Newspaper in Argentina Home » Newspapers » Newspaper in Argentina What is the most popular Newspaper in Argentina What is the most popular Newspaper in Argentina Argentina which has over 150 daily newspapers is one of South America media markets. Almost newspaper in Argentina is written in Spanish.

However, some newspaper is published in published in foreign language, such as: English, German. · In fact, some newspaper is very polular in this country. For example, La Nacion which is the most of respected conservative daily’s newspaper in Argentina focusing on business, sports, world news, living, culture, and people. Cronica which is the most tabloid daily’s newspaper in Argentian covering politics, business, jobs, education, and sports including football, golf, tennis, and other sports. In this newspaper, information is orthodox. Therefore, readers can believe in news which is on this newspaper. Buenos Aires Herald which is the most of English-language daily newspaper in Argentina was founded in 1876 by William Cathcart. However, the most popular newspaper in Argentina is Clarín. Clarín is a part of Periódicos Asociados Latinoamericanos (Latin American Newspaper Association) which is an organization of fourteen newspapers’ leading in South America. Clarín which is the most popular newspaper in Argentina was founded by Roberto Noble on 28 August 1945 and published by the Grupo Clarín media group. The newspaper’ subject is policy, sport, economic, entertainment,….

Clarín launched clarin.com in March 1996. The site served nearly 6 million viewers daily in Argentina in April 2011, making it the fifth most visited website in Argentina that month and the most widely viewers of websites based in Argentina itself. The newspaper publishes and distributes around 330,000 copies throughout Argentina. In addition, the online version of this one is very well-known. According to Alexa.com, the electronic version of Clarín is one of the most visited Spanish language newspaper on the Internet. Nevertheless, Clarín which is the the best-selling national dailies is the most of popular newspaper in Argentina. Day after day, this one prints thousands newspaper and serves thousands people in this country. In fact, this number is go on. Posted by Argentina’s free press is in grave danger. Book review of “Tiempos turbulentos” - The Washington Post Argentina’s free press is in grave danger. Book review of “Tiempos turbulentos” The inside track on Washington politics. Be the first to know about new stories from PowerPost. Sign up to follow, and we’ll e-mail you free updates as they’re published.

You’ll receive free e-mail news updates each time a new story is published. You’re all set! By David Kopel By David Kopel February 9, 2015 Argentina is in the midst of a political crisis, following the January 18 murder of prosecutor Alberto Nisman; he had been scheduled to testify to Argentina’s Congress about President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s alleged role in covering up Iran’s role in the 1994 terrorist bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Indeed, Nisman had drafted an arrest warrant for President Kirchner. The journalist who broke the story of Nisman’s murder was Damian Pachter, of the English-language Buenos Aires Herald. Shortly afterward, he began to be followed. Fearing for his safety, he fled the country , and is now residing in Israel. Mr. Pachter’s experience is not surprising, for the Kirchner regime has been engaged in an increasingly aggressive war against what remains of a free press. The war is described in Tiempos turbulentos, a collection of 21 short essays by Argentinian journalists and professors.

Published in October by Argentine newspaper industry trade association, ADEPA , the book details the methods and ideology of the government’s anti-press campaign. As the authors note, similar press suppression is being carried out in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The authors provide compelling analysis of what is becoming the 21st century model for getting rid of an independent press; some of the problems the authors describe exist in the United States as well. The essays in the 146-page Tiempos turbulentos are written for the lay audience. In length and breadth, a typical chapter is similar to a long article in a British Sunday newspaper, or an American political weekly magazine. You don’t need to be fluent in Spanish to read the book. Armed with a dictionary, a moderately proficient Spanish reader will be just fine. Before I describe the book’s analysis, some brief history might be helpful. Argentina declared independence from Spain in 1810, and the revolution against Spanish colonialism was won under the leadership of General José de San Martin. After liberating Argentina, and well as Chile and Peru, he retired from public life, rejecting entreaties to become President of Argentina.

Since independence in 1810, Argentina’s democracy has been interrupted four times by military coups. The most recent military government took power in 1976; it perpetrated many human rights violations, including killing about 30,000 people. The dictatorship fell in 1983. In 2003, Néstor Kirchner won the presidency. Previously he had been Governor of Santa Cruz, a province in the far south. His wife Cristina Fernández de Kirchner won the next presidential election, in 2007. He died in 2010, and she won re-election in 2011 with 54% of the vote. This power couple is often called los K (the K), by friends and foes alike. According to Tiempos turbulentos, the K assault on the freedom of the press began early, intensified greatly in 2009, and has become all the worse during the current third term. The first essay of Tiempos turbulentos says that liberty of expression is being asphyxiated, restricted, and inhibited—asfixiada, restringida, inhibida.

The government is attempting to make it economically impossible for a critical press to exist. Media which are not economically strong enough to sustain a prolonged confrontation with the government have already been compelled to support the government, or at least not to criticize it, in order to be able to stay in business. To the authors, what it at stake is the survival of constitutional order, which cannot exist without a free press. The authors fear that Argentina is well on its way towards illiberal democracy—like the nominally democratic dictatorships of Russia or Venezuela. There, the regimes garner legitimacy by holding elections; but without an independent and strong press, a regime can maintain its power indefinitely. After all, if there isn’t a free press, who is going to report on whether the votes were counted honestly? State media During the first K term, the government began to manage state media as if it were a party organ. The K was not the first regime to use state media for propaganda. But in 2009 they found a way to attract a much larger audience: by taking over the broadcast of all soccer games. This means free broadcasts of every game of all 40 teams in Argentina’s primary and secondary leagues.

(Liga A and Liga B.) The government’s huge spending on Fútbol para todos (football for everyone) captures 30 points (about 6 million viewers) on some games. During halftime, and between games, there’s lots of government propaganda. Some of it is soft, such as how well the government is running the train system; especially in-between the two games of the night, the propaganda includes harsh and extended attacks on the regime’s enemies, particularly the press. Anybody who wants to rebroadcast a Fútbol para todos game has to include the propaganda. Paid government advertising Governments legitimately advertise to inform the public about government services, such as the schedule for free vaccinations. Under the K, Argentine federal and provincial government advertising has changed into advertising about the accomplishments (or alleged accomplishments) of the K government. The advertising often features a picture of a politician who is taking the credit. This violates the statute which forbids government advertising to use names or images to promote public officials. ( Ley de Ética en el Ejercicio de Función Pública , law 25.188, chapter 10, article 42. “Publicidad y divulgación”).

The amount of such spending was once minor, and is now enormous. In 2000, it was $16 million, rising to $28 million in 2002. By 2007, the K had raised it to $326 million, then to $919 million in 2013. This figure does not include spending on Fútbol para todos (reported to be $1.28 billion in 2012, although the government does not disclose the amount). The advertising, which of course is paid by taxpayers, is calibrated to the election cycle. For example, the 2009 provincial and local elections were in June. Advertising spending was far larger in the first half of the year than in the second, reaching a peak in June of over 180 million. The next month it fell to 40 million. Money is spent not based on the size of the audience that a particular media organ reaches, but is very heavily slanted towards media groups that editorially support the K. When media feature government-favored programs, the funding goes up. Most of the financially weaker media cannot afford to resist, and so have fallen in line.

The advertising discrimination is plainly illegal, as the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación) ruled in the 2009 case Editorial Perfil c. Jefatura Gabinete de Ministros . That case followed a similar 2007 decision in Editorial Rio Negro c. Provinicia de Neuqén (2007). It was reaffirmed in the 2013 Grupo Clarín case. Most recently, in February 2014, the Supreme Court in Arte Radiotelevisivo Argentino ordered the K government to stop arbitrarily and abusively discriminating against Channel 13 and several other channels. The government was given 30 days to produce a system of public advertising spending which treats similar stations similarly. None of the above cases have resulted in compliance by the Kirchner government. For more on this issue, see the report by Transparency International’s Argentine branch, Poder Ciudadano (citizen power). The remaining free press The major print media which have not yet succumbed to K control are: La Nacíon .

It was founded in 1870 by former President Bartolomé Mitre and is still in the family, led by Mitre’s great-great-grandson, who has the same name. It owns various Spanish language newspapers published in the United States. Along with Grupo Clarín and the Argentine government, it shares ownership in the newsprint manufacturer Papel Prensa , which has a 58% market share. Grupo Clarín . The largest Spanish language media entity in the world. Its flagship is the Clarín daily newspaper, the best-selling paper in the nation, and among Spanish-speakers worldwide. Editorial Perfil . This organization publishes weekly magazines, and a biweekly newspaper, Perfil. El Cronista Comercial . A daily business newspaper, founded in 1908, and now owned by the Spanish publisher Unidad Editorial , which in turn is mostly owned by the Italian conglomerate RCS MediaGroup. Its best-known property is Spain’s El Mundo daily newspaper. Against the free press, the regime uses many weapons. Public dissent attracts the heavy hand of the tax office (Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos, AFIP).

The AFIP’s rules are vigorously applied to K’s enemies (as in a May 2013 raid on Grupo Clarín), and ignored for K’s friends. As reported by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the national intelligence agency (Secretaría de Inteligencia) spies on K’s political opponents, including by e-mail and telephone surveillance. Italo Pisani, editor of the Patagonian newspaper Rio Negro , writes that “The reprisals against the press have been directly proportional to the advance in investigations of cases of corruption linked to the government.” (page 130). Among the cases he lists are those involving the Swedish gas line company Skanska , alleged money-laundering from the Chavez regime in Venezuela to support Cristina Kirchner’s 2007 presidential campaign, and the “ K money trail ” (La ruta del dinero K). The latter began with an April 2013 report by Channel 13 on the alleged theft of large sums of money for public works by K-friendly business, with some of the wealth going to the Kirchner family—whose personal wealth increased from US$1.4 million in 2003 to US$14 million in 2010.

One aspect which is very much in (some) newspapers in Argentina right now is further findings about alleged money-laundering via southern resort properties which the Kirchner family partially own. The asphyxiation strategy was apparently the reason why in 2013 Secretary of Interior Commerce Guillermo Moreno ordered supermarkets and household electronics stores not to purchase advertising in nationally circulated media. Such ads are a very crucial source of newspaper revenue. For example Clarín had about 8 pages per day of such ads. Protests in Congress resulted in the government backing away from attempting to enforce such a dubiously lawful decree. At least some of the newspaper advertising has returned. Moreno resigned in November 2013, and was later found guilty of abuse of authority, for having ordered the national statistics agency (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, INDEC) to falsify inflation data. Indeed, he also heavily fined independent researchers and consumer groups who conducted their own studies of prices, and who reported inflation rates much worse than the official rates. Eventually, the fines were rejected by the courts. According to genuine data, Argentina suffers from the second-highest inflation rate in South America, with only Venezuela (which is in economic collapse) being worse.

The biggest anti-press weapon is a 2010 law on media concentration. Ostensibly for the purpose of nurturing media diversity, the law is aggressively enforced, or ignored, depending on whether or not a media business is considered a friend of the government. Various K allies have acquired their own large media empires, including by purchasing, at generous prices, long-established and formerly independent newspapers and radio/TV channels. Under this system of the capitalism of friends, big media concentration is fine as long as it is allied with the government. This “hyperconcentration of much media in few hands” (113) was how almost all of the free press in Venezuela was eliminated by the Chavez-Maduro regime. The rhetoric of the media law is about expanding voices—“voces de la sociedad.” But in practice, the law is used to constrict viewpoint diversity. What the statute lauds as “voices of the society” really means only “the voice of the ruling party.” A new law on audiovisual communication services (Ley de Servicios de Comunición Audiovisual, LCSA) further tightens the regime’s control.

TV and radio licenses for commercial media were cut, with the licenses transferred to government entities and to government-favored “non-government organizations.” The length of licenses was shortened, thus keeping the remaining commercial licensees on a shorter rope. New private channels with national reach were prohibited. Without being able to reach nationally, a channel can have a much harder time attracting a large enough audience to be economically viable by selling ordinary advertising. So the station must then depend on government support, through the government’s massive advertising expenditures. As noted above, getting this money depends on having news and editorial slants which please the government. These limits on new cable television channels make no sense, other than as censorship, since cable TV is not broadcast on the radioelectric spectrum, and thus there is no shortage of bandwidth. Under the “Digital Argentina” statute enacted in December 2014, the government now has the power to fix the prices for all telecommunications services. As explained by El Diario Exterior, the new law gives the government the power to conduct warrantless searches of homes, to monitor compliance with the law.

Any telecommunication service can be shut down when the regulatory agency (Autoridad Federal de las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación, AFTIC) says that “national security” is involved (Article 65). Even a business intra-net now needs a government license, and so do services such as Skype or Google Hangout. In Venezuela, newspapers are being forced out of existence by a shortage of newsprint , as the dictatorship delays and denies their access to foreign currency, which is necessary to pay for the imports. Argentina’s leading newsprint manufacturer, Papel Prensa, is owned 27% by the government, with the rest owned either by La Nación or Grupo Clarín, both of which are anti-K. In 2012, the K government proposed legislation to expropriate Papel Prensa. All of the non-K parties unanimously opposed it, and it did not become law. Constitutional rights The multifront war on the independent press is contrary to Argentina’s Constitution .

Chapter One, section 14 guarantees: “All the inhabitants of the Nation are entitled to the following rights, in accordance with the laws that regulate their exercise, namely: …to publish their ideas through the press without previous censorship….” Section 32 outlaws national control of the press: “The Federal Congress shall not enact laws restricting the freedom of the press or establishing federal jurisdiction over it.” Further, Argentina has adopted the American Convention on Human Rights, and international treaties on human rights are considered a core of Argentina’s constitutional system. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (which sits in San Jose, Costa Rica) is the authoritative interpreter of the Convention, and has made it clear that K-style press control is illegal. See Ivcher Bronstein v. Perú (Feb. 2, 2001) (To remove a person’s control of a television channel, or to ban the journalists on a television program, is a violation of their free speech, and of the right of the audience to receive information). Peronists vs. the Press During World War II, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship which was formally neutral, but sympathized with the Axis. Later Juan Domingo Perón took power.

The military dictatorship and the Perón regime both controlled the import and distribution of newspaper printing paper. Accordingly, self-censorship was necessary for most newspapers to be able to publish. President Perón expropriated La Prensa in 1951, and gave it to the national labor federation. He closed the Catholic newspaper El Pueblo. He put all of the press either under the control of himself and his allies, or in a position of fear about criticizing the regime. In 1995, President Carlos Menem (a Peronist) dedicated his re-election “to journalism, which was the only opposition.” In the 2009 election, Néstor Kirchner urged voters to “defeat journalism in the polls.” Since then the rhetoric has become much more intense. Millions have been spent to promote the slogan Patria o medios. (“Homeland or media”). As several authors of Tiempos turbulentos note, the K regime, which is a Peronist party, has many parallels with the original Perón. One author, though, draws another parallel.

The concluding chapter, by La Nación columnist Fernando Laborida, observes K’s similarities to the military dictatorship of 1976-83. The generals believed that Argentina was a “sick society.” To the K regime, whatever does not conform to their will (e.g., prices, journalists) is just a manifestation of a sickness which will be eliminated. The authors argue that the K use the press as a scapegoat for their own failures. They denounce the free press as the “Corpo.” Yet as the news director of the newspaper Perfil points out, the K regime has built “a real Korpo of state and para-state media.” Subjugation to the hyper-president Several authors put the press problem in the context of the government’s parallel attacks on judicial independence, and on businesses outside the government orbit. Given the extent of government power already, the only major businesses not presently at the mercy of arbitrary government decisions are rural primary producers. According to many of the authors, the K government’s campaign for what it calls “democratization of the judiciary” parallels its campaign for “democratizing the media.” In other words, eliminating the judiciary as an independent check on the executive.

In Venezuela, for example, since the Chavez-Maduro regime took over the Supreme Court (which then issued an opinion declaring itself to be in the service of the Chavez revolution), the regime has a 55-0 record of wins. President Kirchner argues that no judicial decision should contradict the popular will, which is to say that since she won 54% of the popular vote, judges should never rule her actions unconstitutional. She criticizes the judiciary because it “ties the hands of the State” (le ata las manos al Estado). La Nación‘s Laborida retorts that she “pretends to ignore that the Judiciary is as much the State as herself.” Moreover, the Constitution itself is the highest expression of the State. The executive and judiciary are mere creations of the Constitution; they have no lawful authority except what the People have given them through the Constitution. To assert that the executive should enjoy impunity from the Constitution is to assault the Rule of Law. Judge Ricardo Recondo is the official representative of the association of national judges (Asociación de Magistrados y Funcionarios de la Justice Nacional), a position to which he was elected by the national judges.

He views his election as a strong statement by the majority of the judiciary in support of judicial independence. He recently stated that “The nation and democracy are in grave danger” because of the “many anti-democratic activities of this government, which could not be more ingenious. Using democracy wanting to destroy democracy. If we do not react, one day we are going to wake up and going to be subjugated.” (Clarín, Nov. 30, 2014). Latin America has long been plagued by hyper-presidentialism (hiperpresidencialismo). Argentina has had presidents, such as the late Raúl Alfonsin, who respected the separation of powers and the rule of law. But that is not the case today. The K regime aims for perpetuity and impunity (132). The regime says that it is leading Argentina to a better and fairer future, especially for the poor. The editors of Tiempos turbulentos ask, “If there is no more free press, if we accept silencing the dissidents, will there be more indigence, poverty, corruption, insecurity, inflation?

Will there be more and better education, justice, health?” Supposedly, the war against the free press is part of a progressive political agenda. Yet necessarily, the suppression of truth is regressive. Caudillismo is the worst part of the past, not part of a genuinely progressive future. A country with a press under pervasive restraint is a regression to the Spanish colonial period, when prior restraint was the norm. opinions About Us | Buenos Aires Tours About Us The private walking tour specialists Founded in 2005, BuenosTours are the original and leading private walking tour specialists in Buenos Aires. To learn more about why you should take a private guided walking tour ahead of any other type of tour, click here . The BuenosTours tour guide team is made up of native English-speakers now living long-term in Buenos Aires. We’ve been giving private walking tours for over 11 years, continually bettering our tour offerings, and delighting more and more visitors to Buenos Aires with each month that passes. To read what our many happy customers have to say, check out our testimonials page and the great reviews past clients have given us on Tripadvisor .

Recognised as the best in the business BuenosTours has also received several honours and industry recommendations down the years. For example, one of the most popular daily newspapers in England, The Guardian, has listed us as offering the best cemetery tour in the world. Both our Half Day Recoleta & Cemetery Tour and our Full Day “BA 101” Tour include this award-winning cemetery tour. We have also been highly recommended by other respected travel market-leaders such as Delta Airlines, Marriott and Sheraton Hotels, in best-selling guide books such as Lonely Planet, Frommer’s and DK Eyewitness Top 10 Guides, plus mentioned online and in the press by The Boston Globe, Wired Magazine, Clarin (Argentina’s biggest newspaper), The South African Sunday Times, and Argentina’s Travel Guide. In addition, we continue to get great reviews on websites such as Tripadvisor, Cruise Critic, Google Reviews, TravelPod and Matador Trips. Please see our press and buzz section for more info.

Meet the BuenosTours team… Jessica A US expat in her 20’s now living long term in Buenos Aires, who not only has in depth knowledge of the city, but also has a degree in Latin American History (& Spanish), so knows the history of this region extremely well, too. She is originally from New Jersey in the US, but now lives in the bohemian barrio of San Telmo here in BA. Blessed with a fantastic sense of humor, the singing voice of an angel, an encyclopedic knowledge of Argentina, and a winning personality, everyone loves Jessica. The feedback she gets from clients is the stuff of legend in Buenos Aires tour guide circles, and it just keeps getting better! Oliver Having grown up in Southern California, Oliver has been living in Buenos Aires since 2006. In the 2 decades+ he spent in and around LA, he never considered becoming an actor, yet he did just that in 2009 in BA.

Unlike other starving actors, Oliver’s day job of tour guiding allows him to perform what he considers to be a one-man-show every day (and it beats waiting tables!) Before coming to Buenos Aires, Oliver spent 7 years studying social and political philosophy, so his tours are seasoned with tidbits of insight on current and past political situations. Since moving here, Oliver has lived in the neighbourhoods of San Telmo and Boedo, but now lives in the suburb of utmost historical importance (for beer-drinkers ), Quilmes. In his free time, he enjoys preparing asado and drinking mate, preferably at the same time. Richard Originally from New York, Richard had the great pleasure of surviving the worst of the most recent Argentine economic crisis having moved here in early 2002. (He has a t-shirt to prove it.) Despite over a decade of living and working in Buenos Aires, he has managed to avoid the three great Argentina passions: tango dancing , football / soccer, and therapy .

On the other hand, he is fond of cafés and has spent so much time in the city’s numerous caffeine dispensaries leafing through gossip magazines that he can give you the most up-to-date information on who among the rich and famous is having an affair with whom. Alan The founder of BuenosTours. A typically self-effacing Brit, with a passion for Buenos Aires and its fascinating history, Alan has lived in the capital city of Argentina for over 8 years and counting, and started giving walking tours here over 7 years ago. He had originally planned to stay for 3 months to learn Spanish , but found that it took a lot longer than expected! Alan loves good red wine, dulce de leche ice cream , football (three more reasons why he stayed in Argentina), travel (he has recently visited almost every country in South America, and travelled extensively across Argentina), good food, photography, British ales (the main thing he misses from home, along with family, of course) and messing around on the Internet. Don’t we all? Ceri Ceri first came to Buenos Aires on impulse with his wife in 2007 and after several hours, decided to move here.

Born in Canada to English parents, he studied post-Freudian psychoanalysis in Vancouver before heading to Spain to be a flamenco dancer (as one does). He then went on to study acting in London when he decided Argentina was lacking a bit of Shakespeare and most, most fortunately, the wife agreed. When he’s not guiding, he spends his time acting, teaching acting, DJing, working on his century-old house and enjoying a gin and tonic while watching his two adopted street dogs sit on each other. Old cars, outstanding architecture and great people are what keeps him smiling in Buenos Aires. Isabel After studying History and working as a journalist in London, UK, Isabel arrived in Buenos Aires nearly four years ago with no firm plans and little more than a gut instinct that it might be her kind of town. She continues to fall in love with the city and its many absurdities every day, her favorite pastimes include counting how many dogs there are in the huge packs exercised by Buenos Aires dog walkers and listening out for the distinctive whistle of the city’s door-to-door knife sharpeners (afiladores).

A San Lorenzo football club fan, her perfect day would include going to the ground to watch them trounce Boca Juniors, an evening beer at a pavement table, an asado (a serious Argentine-style barbecue) on a rooftop terrace followed by a late night whirl at a milonga (a tango dance hall ) and a 6am breakfast of coffee and medialunas (croissants). Quincy Arizona born and raised, Quincy originally came to Argentina as a teenager and immediately knew she wanted to speak Spanish with that romantic, Italian-esque accent. She decided to study abroad in Buenos Aires in 2009 and arrived minutes before the swine-flu sent the (sometimes neurotic) porteños into a paranoid frenzy. Her program was cancelled, inspiring her to explore the (mostly empty) city on her own. She became an avid alfajor aficionado and fernet fanatic, and sobbed her way through customs at the end of her six-month stint. After completing her degree in Sociology and Latin American studies, Quincy traveled from Mexico City by foot, bus, canoe, and train back to her beloved BA. She she enjoys scribbling poetry while sipping cafe-con-leche in the city’s spectacular old cafes , and teaches English to small children.

More in-depth BuenosTours team profiles coming soon! A responsible company that you can trust Here at BuenosTours we like to think of ourselves as an ethical, responsible company. We continually delight our customers, thanks to our commitment to excellence, backed up by our 100% satisfaction guarantee – if you are disappointed with your tour in any way, we will give you a full refund, no questions asked – however, not a single client has requested this in 8+ years! As a walking tour outfit, we are also a green company, with minimal effect on the environment. Please think twice before you take a bus or private car tour, as you will be further polluting a city that already has air-quality issues, and a world that deserves better.

Our private walking tours, with use of public transport options only when needed, are the ethical option, and not only that, but the best way to see the city up close, and excellent exercise (which you’ll need to counteract all the great steak, wine and ice cream you’ll probably consume in Buenos Aires!) If you have any further questions about us and our private walking tours, please check out our Frequently Asked Questions section, and if the answer you are looking for isn’t there, just drop us an email… How to contact us To contact us, you can use the email shown below. Although, if what you wish to say is in any way related to one of our blog posts, we would prefer if you left a comment on the relevant post. And if you want to book a walking tour, please go here , rather than email direct. Thanks! ﻿ Showdown looms between Argentina's Kirchner and her biggest media critic - CSMonitor.com Showdown looms between Argentina's Kirchner and her biggest media critic Latest News Save for later Saved Clarín Editor Ricardo Kirschbaum (r.) speaks with Clarin spokesperson Martin Etchevers during a news conference with foreign correspondents in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 30.

Grupo Clarín executives said they have no intention of submitting plans to dismantle the company ahead of a Dec. 7 deadline announced by the Argentine government, but are instead focused on persuading the courts that Argentina's anti-monopoly law is unconstitutional. Victor R. Caivano/AP View Caption of Buenos Aires — President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner ’s battle with the press is set to intensify this week as Argentina implements a polemic media law that her administration says encourages a plurality of voices and that opponents call an assault on free speech and democracy. The country’s biggest media conglomerate, Grupo Clarín , has until Friday to tell the government how it will divest itself of assets under a 2009 antimonopoly ruling. Clarín, once an ally of President Kirchner and her late husband and predecessor, Néstor, is now openly opposed to the government. The group owns Argentina’s best-selling newspaper, and controls 59 and 42 percent of the cable TV and radio markets, respectively, according to AFSCA, the body enforcing the law. Recommended: Think you know Latin America? Take our geography quiz.

The government says the other 20 media companies required to divest are complying with the law, but Clarín, the group most affected, argues it is being deliberately targeted as Kirchner seeks to suppress criticism of her administration. It also claims the law is unconstitutional, something the judiciary has yet to rule on. Photos of the Day Photos of the Day 01/17 This Friday’s deadline falls days before the anniversary of Argentina’s 1983 return to democracy after a seven-year dictatorship. As the country prepares to celebrate, some fear the media law could lead to a deficit of independent reporting: Clarín is one of the few news organizations not reliant on the government via advertising subsidies. “There’s no freedom of expression without an independent press,” said Héctor Magnetto, Clarín’s CEO. “If one is weakened, both could be at risk.” ‘Right to be heard’ This isn’t the first time Clarín and a president have clashed. Numerous bills to regulate the media were introduced in the 1980s and 1990s, but Clarín always played a part in blocking their approval, says Glenn Postolksi, who helped draw up the guidelines on which the current law is based.

Passed in 2009, the legislation supersedes a law from the dictatorship, and is designed to increase the range of voices in TV and radio. No one media group can control more than 35 percent of the market, while not-for-profit organizations will see their share increased to around a third. “We also have the right to be heard,” says Armando Kispe, a presenter at Radio Pachakuti, a station founded last year for the indigenous communities of Jujuy in northern Argentina. “It would have been very difficult to have established the radio without the law,” Mr. Kispe says, noting it does not rely on public advertising. A government publicity campaign hails Dec. 7 as a victory for “democracy, diversity, and liberty.” And many Argentines see the media law as an important tool to widen freedom of expression. “A lot of people here are prisoners of a singular voice,” says Walter Rodas, a retiree from the northern Chaco Province , referring to Clarín’s majority share of the media market.

“But now we’ll have true diversity – and that’s for the good of society.” Critics, though, see the law as less about moving toward democratization of the media and more a blatant attempt to stultify and silence the administration’s adversary, Clarín. “Clarín will be hugely affected economically,” says former federal communications secretary Henoch Aguiar, who predicts the group stands to lose an initial $1 billion from reduced subscriptions. Clarín is required to sell the majority of its cable broadcasting licenses. The group has 237 in cities and towns across Argentina, according to AFSCA, but is allowed just 24 under the law. It will also have to sell eight of the nine cable television channels the government says it owns. History of friendship…and rivalry Clarín and the Kirchners have not always knocked heads. Néstor Kirchner , who was close to Mr. Magnetto, renewed the group’s broadcast licenses for 10 years in 2005 and later approved its acquisition of cable company Cablevisión . But relations collapsed in 2008 when Clarín backed farmers in a row over export taxes. “What’s up Clarín, why are you so nervous?” Mr.

Kirchner asked in a now famous speech, made in 2009, during which he accused the group of “misinforming” Argentines. Today, President Kirchner and her ministers regularly accuse Clarín of lying and crafting a “distorted” view of Argentina to destabilize her administration. On a recent mission to Vietnam Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno travelled with balloons reading “Clarín lies,” a slogan also brandished on a banner hanging from the building of the government statistics agency, itself accused of fudging inflation data. The government has said the protagonists of recent social unrest, including a mass protest against Kirchner and a general strike last month, are either influenced by, or allied with, Clarín. Many here echo that view. “Clarín is trying to put the government on the rack,” says analyst Leandro Bullor. “[The group] is a political actor … going blow for blow in the ring [with the government],” said Horacio Verbitsky, a prominent journalist. Martín Etchevers, Clarín’s spokesman, insists its outlets are dedicated to rigorous journalism, which includes holding the government to account over alleged corruption and distorted statistics.

Andrés D’Alessandro, executive director of the Argentine Journalism Forum, says Clarín’s journalists have taken on an investigative role to which other outlets – for example Página/12, a newspaper that receives substantial government advertising – were once dedicated before 2008. The Kirchner administration’s advertising budget in 2011 was a little less than $400 million, up from $10 million in 2003. Around a third of it was spent on publicity during soccer matches transmitted on state TV, and recent spots have demonized Clarín. The rights to show games were bought by the government in 2009 after the Argentine Soccer Association broke its contract with a Clarín-controlled sports broadcaster. Three years It has taken three years to enforce the law because of an injunction taken out by Clarín that expires on Dec. 7. But the legal battle continues with the group refusing to recognize the deadline. Martín Sabbatella, president of AFSCA, said the government will intervene and auction off Clarín’s licenses if the group does not present a plan to sell them off by midnight on Friday. “The law is the law,” he said. “Nobody is above it.” Mr.

D’Alessandro says there is a risk the government will not be objective when it oversees the redistribution of licenses. He fears it could apply the same “friend or enemy” criteria seen in the handing out of public advertising. “That could lead to a [limting of] freedom of expression,” he says. Clarín has also contested the law’s constitutionality, saying its private-property rights are being violated: The only way the government can confiscate licenses is by expropriating them, explains constitutional lawyer Andrés Gil Domínguez. Divisive policies The disagreement over the law is the latest issue to divide Argentines. Kirchner’s policies of economic protectionism, extensive welfare plans for the poor, and a recent law lowering the voting age to 16 have all split opinion. Some observers say they see a movement toward similar clashes with the press as in Venezuela and Ecuador . “Argentina is running the risk of turning into a competitive authoritarianism,” says Sergio Berensztein, an analyst at the Poliarquía consultancy, referring to a political model in which there are free and fair elections but violations of other democratic processes.

Kirchner, who was reelected with 54 percent of the vote last year, has concentrated power in the executive while her administration is accused of trampling on the judiciary in the build-up to Dec. 7. It has forced the resignation of judges, alleged to favor Clarín, and today ordered the recusal of those deciding whether to extend the group’s injunction. “On Dec. 7 we say ‘enough’ to the impunity of monopolies,” reads one of the thousands of posters plastered throughout Buenos Aires . “Goodbye Clarín,” it signs off. Next up Get the Monitor stories you care about delivered to your inbox. Daily

Question: The Clarin is the best-selling daily newspaper in which South American country?
Answer: Argentina