President Cristina Kirchner has suffered the double blow of losing control of the Argentine Senate and also having her nomination for head of the central bank, Mercedes Marco del Pont, rejected. Kirchner lost control of the House of Deputies a few weeks ago, so the opposition now controls both houses of government.

The opposition convinced former president Carlos Menem, a sworn enemy of the Kirchners to attend the crucial vote yesterday. This, plus other senators switching allegiance in their voting, resulted in the opposition controlling 13 of the Senate’s 25 committees. This is the first time this has happened since 2005 and could seriously hamper Kirchner’s ability to pass legislation. It is the first time that a ruling Peronist government has been in this predicament.

This situation comes on the heels of Kirchner’s unpopular attempts to pay off the country’s foreign debt using central bank reserves. Kirchner claims that she is doing so to help restore foreign confidence in Argentina. She said: “Whenever the government acts the economy goes up, whenever the opposition acts with the help of a friendly judge, the economy goes down.”

Speaking about the refusal to confirm Marco del Pont as head of the central bank, Kirchner claimed that the Senate was not making decisions based on what was best for the country, she said: “What happened yesterday against Mercedes Marco del Pont was an act of revenge, of the most despicable type I have seen.”

Kirchner’s final words yesterday were for her vice-president, Julio Cobos, who she blamed for what happened in the Senate, she said: “There are plenty of people who want to be the president, including the vice-president himself, which in itself is legitimate. I only ask that they wait until next year and let the people decide.”

Photo by Beatrice Murch

Supporters of the law wait outside Congreso long through the night for the bill to pass the senate

On 10th October, a vote of 44-22 in the Senate sealed the fate of president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s controversial new media law.

It took 16 hours of debate for the law to be passed without any concessions to a vociferous opposition and be celebrated by thousands of supporters outside Congress.

The bill had been previously approved in Congress by a substantial margin of 146 to 3 on 17th September, although more than 100 opposition lawmakers stormed out in response, providing yet another manifestation of the heated debate this controversial proposal has provoked.

The real battlefield, however, is principally between the government and the Grupo Clarín, one of the largest media groups in Latin America.

The current media law derives from legislation passed during the dictatorship and carries the signature of ex-dictator Jorge Videla. Its update is intended to adapt it to suit the technological advances of the past 30 years as well as provide more democratic access to and distribution of information. This is to be achieved through the limitation of licenses controlled by the more powerful media groups, with more frequencies to be freed up for smaller independent companies.

Effectively, the aim is to encourage competition and avoid monopolies. It also will permit tighter state control over who owns the airwaves as another consequence of the bill would be a division of broadcast frequencies into thirds: one-third for private media, one-third for the state and one-third for non-governmental organisations and civil groups.

Furthermore, the new law aims to give more state control to Papel Prensa, the paper-making company which is part owned by La Nación and Clarín. This move is aimed to decrease the groups’ ability to set paper prices, thus increasing competition, and making things fairer for small, independent publications.

Photo by Beatrice Murch

The new law is designated solely towards audio-visual media, leaving newspapers unaffected. This impacts Clarín as although it is most known for its newspaper, the company also has important business interests in cable, television and radio, owning two-thirds of Argentina’s cable network. As the law stipulates that no cable business may own any over-the-air broadcast channels, Clarín’s radio stations, television stations and part of its dominant cable TV network will be forcibly sold-off or restructured within one year after the law comes into power.

“It hits other media groups, but Clarín is the one it hurts,” said Daniel Kerner, an analyst at Eurasia Group.

The president justified the bill in a speech last month in which she declared it to be “for everyone who wants to live in a more democratic and more pluralistic Argentina.” She claims that allowing media monopolies to exist is detrimental to freedom of speech and that a modernised regulatory framework is urgently required.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, “many Argentine journalists and free press advocates acknowledge a need to overhaul broadcasting regulations enacted in 1980, during military rule, but have concerns about this bill.” Indeed many sceptics believe there to be an ulterior motive at play behind the new legislative proposal. They consider it to represent an act of retaliation against the critical attitude that Clarín has maintained towards the current government. The president herself has blamed media coverage, and in particular the conglomerate Grupo Clarín, for her party’s defeats in the recent elections. This was particularly aggravated by the recent ‘campo crisis’, in which Clarín heavily criticised a controversial new agricultural taxation system.

It is a complex situation as some accuse Clarín of consistently acting in its own interests by strategically currying favour with the government in order to be granted privileges. According to political commentator Sergio Kiernan, “first Clarín supports a government, getting economic concessions and licences as a result, but then when the political wind changes and the government begins to lose support, Clarín moves into opposition. It’s been very lucrative for them.” Clarín’s editor Ricardo Kirschbaum, however, defends attacks on the newspaper’s recent condemnations of governmental action on grounds that “the presidency can’t stand critical thought.”

Although the president was quick to sign the law, it is clear that the battle is not over yet. The opposition has hopes to revise the law when Congress is updated with newly elected members from June’s elections in December. Clarín has also declared that it intends to take the matter to the courts, claiming the new limits violate constitutional property protections.

Photo by Beatrice Murch

Graffiti urging a “yes” vote on the Media Law

In a surprise turn of events, the radical senator for Corrientes, María Dora Sánchez, announced on Wednesday 7th October that she will vote in favour of the new Audiovisual Communications law. This will tip the balance in favour of the legislation, the fate of which will be decided in the Senate this weekend.  Sánchez has declared : “the law will be passed, the governing party will make sure of it and there won’t be any problems.”

The unexpected news has led some to speculate that there has been a political agreement between Arturo Columbi, Sánchez’ political head and governer of Corrientes, and the Casa Rosada. Columbi was defeated in the recent elections and so rumours of financial stability to be guaranteed for him until the end of his mandate are rife. It is further alleged that a series of opposition politicians with doubts over the legislation have had individual meetings with the Kirchners, only to then revise their opinions.

Buoyed by Sánchez’ vote, the government is currently working on a speech which will refute article by article the counter-arguments which stand in the way of the bill’s approval. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s media law currently has 37 votes in its favour, despite the controversy which has surrounded the proposal.