Populist leaders around Latin America, and most recently Argentina, are increasingly making legal and political moves to silence their media critics, the president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) said on Friday.
In Argentina, top editors are criticizing Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, who signed a decree this week ordering newspapers and magazines to be sold exclusively in union-run stands. Editors fear the government will now be able to prevent the distribution of newspapers that don’t follow the ruling party line by enlisting pro-government unions to shut them down.
“From now on the sale of newspapers will be the only commercial activity regulated by the state,” said Gregorio Badeni, a constitutional law expert in Buenos Aires.
The IAPA also has criticized Argentina’s new broadcast media law, a ruling party project that preserves two-thirds of the radio and TV spectrum for noncommercial stations and gives political appointees a powerful role in granting licenses and regulating content.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
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