Pedro Brieger, an independent journalist and sociologist at the University of Buenos Aires, told The Real News on April 13 that Argentines view the government's attempts to silence pan-American news station TeleSUR as the loss of one of the only alternative voices for news in Latin America.
The analyst highlighted the danger now as not only the fact that most of the mass media supports the government, but Macri's government recovered the control of the public media. “So you can say that most of the broad public doesn't know what's going on in Argentina through the lens of the governmental ideas.”
When Macri announced that he would divest from TeleSUR and not require cable TV providers to carry the channel, the leftist sectors felt that they were “losing the only distinct voice they had regarding the news in Latin America, and … all over the world,” said Brieger.
Although neoliberal policies in Argentina caused a great depression and unemployment, riots and great hunger and poverty in the country between 1998 and 2002, Brieger explained why people still voted for Macri for at least two factors.
First, during his campaign, Macri promised not to do what he is actually doing. Besides, he recalled that the worst moment of the crisis in Argentina occurred 15 years ago, meaning a new generation of voters did not live that crisis, believing that the problems were created by Cristina Kirchner's government.
“But I think people are going to react, because they are going to feel real life in their pockets,” Brieger said. When you increase the busfare 100%, you feel it in your pocket, in your salary. Even if you don't watch TV, you don't listen to radio, you don't read any newspaper.”
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