(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On 2 October 2002, journalist Carlos Guajardo complained to the Chubut Provincial Legislature that Marcela Cabada, the governor’s wife and an advisor to the provincial government, reprimanded him over the telephone. Guajardo is a journalist for LU 20 Radio Chubut and correspondent for the national daily “Clarín” in Chubut Province, southern Argentina. He […]
(PERIODISTAS/IFEX) – On 2 October 2002, journalist Carlos Guajardo complained to the Chubut Provincial Legislature that Marcela Cabada, the governor’s wife and an advisor to the provincial government, reprimanded him over the telephone. Guajardo is a journalist for LU 20 Radio Chubut and correspondent for the national daily “Clarín” in Chubut Province, southern Argentina. He explained that the incident stemmed from an article published the same day in “Clarín”, reporting that a councillor from Rawson, the provincial capital, had denounced alleged illegal activities in the locality.
Guajardo told the legislators that Cabada was angered because the daily had published a photograph of Rawson Mayor Luis de Hernández, of the Justicialista Party, together with Governor José Luis Lizurume. It was reported in the article that Hernández formed part of the network carrying out the illicit activities and that the governor had not paid enough attention to the allegations of corruption.
A few hours after the article appeared in “Clarín”, Cabada phoned Guajardo to reprimand him for publishing a photograph of her husband “next to a man who accepts bribes.” She called the journalist “shameless” and warned that “this will not be the end of this.” Guajardo added that the governor had telephoned the directors of the media outlets that employ him to complain about the same matter.
On 3 October, the Chubut Provincial Legislature issued a resolution condemning the actions of the governor and his wife. Moreover, Member of Parliament Rolando Iralde asked Parliament to look into the journalist’s accusations. The North-Eastern Chubut Press Workers’ Union (Sindicato de Trabajadores de Prensa del Noreste del Chubut, SITPREN) denounced the officials’ threats and the manner in which “they took out their frustration against a journalist, going as far as asking his employers to dismiss him.”
