Milei Shutters Telam

First Blood ARGENTINA The Argentine government suspended the Telam state news agency this week, part of a plan by libertarian President Javier Milei to shutter the 80-year-old agency that he deems to be a mouthpiece of “propaganda” for prior leftist administrations, Agence France-Presse reported. Officials said Monday they were finalizing plans for the closure of the agency – but denied that the decision had to do with “freedom of expression or press freedom.” They added that the agency had suffered losses of up to $23 million in 2024, without giving details. Milei told the Argentinian congress last week that Telam has been “used for decades as an agency of Kirchnerist propaganda” – referring to the leftist political ideology of former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and her husband Nestor, also a former president. Telam journalists said the government had fenced off two of the agency’s buildings and surrounded them with police over the weekend. On Monday, hundreds of people protested the closure outside Telam’s headquarters in the capital Buenos Aires. The agency – created in 1945 by then Labor Secretary Juan Domingo Peron, who later became Argentina’s president – employs more than 700 people. It published hundreds of news articles and photos daily, as well as content for video and radio clients. Telam supporters said the agency was “the only one” to report on events in remote provinces, such as Santiago del Estero or Tierra del Fuego. Its closure comes after the government said it would “modify” the structure of all state media, as part of Milei’s efforts to shake up or shut state institutions since taking office in December. Milei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” won a resounding victory in last year’s elections fueled by public anger over Argentina’s prolonged economic crisis. His agenda includes drastic cuts in state spending, economic deregulation, and the closure of government-funded organizations he deems unnecessary.