Argentines Protest Government Censorship

Thousands of Argentines gathered in the Plaza de Mayo on Buenos Aires Tuesday to protest repression and censorship under President Mauricio Macri.

The protesters defended freedom of expression and expressed support for respected journalist and sports commentator Victor Hugo Morales, who was dismissed from his post at Radio Continental Monday.

Morales claims the dismissal is part of a broader attempt to censor criticism of President Macri and his government’s proposals, including reform to the media law.

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“We are here to defend the Media Law,” said Morales to the crowd at the Plaza de Mayo.

“This law woke us up, it is the law of the youth … it is for this law that we fight.”

“Seeing that they (the government) do not respect it gives us great pain.”

“We knew that the government was going to try to give more to those who have the most. But we did not know that they were going to attack the dignity of workers,” he said.

Argentina’s media law was originally passed in 2009 with overwhelming support from Congress, setting off a battle between Kirchner and the country’s biggest media conglomerate, Clarin.

On January 5, President Mauricio Macri reformed the measure by emergency decree. Under the modified law, companies can expand freely, with the ability to sell and buy licenses for “those that meet acceptable conditions” without a cap on their reach and later expiration dates. They can also change hands more easily, with little regulation.

WATCH: Argentine Journalist Victor Hugo Morales Sacked from Public Radio