Argentina Update: Gov’t Now Bans Advertising

Argentina is a classic example of a facist state. They banned price rises at the supermarket and now they have banned advertising to weaken the independent newpapers that publish accurate figures on the real inflation in the country. The power of the fascist state to destroy people’s businesses and their well-being is a sad and sorry thing. Argentina wanted to go to war with Britain again over the Falkland Isles, but they thought better of it when the Brit’s sent a nuclear sub down there to hover about with its willy in the air. Tee hee.

Source: From the WSJ

A week after Argentina resorted to every failing authoritarian government’s last ditch measure to (briefly) control inflation before runaway prices flood the nation and result in political and social upheaval, namely freezing retail prices – a decision which never has a happy ending, the country is pressing on through the rabbit hole and in the latest stunner of a government decree (which like Venezuela yesterday is merely a harbinger of what is coming everywhere else), has banned advertising in the Argentina’s newspapers in an attempt to weaken what’s left of a private, independent media, and to punish those who don’t comply with the government’s propaganda.

Supermarkets and electronics retailers say Argentina’s government has ordered them to stop advertising in the country’s top newspapers, in a bid to weaken independent media companies as President Cristina Kirchner turns to increasingly unorthodox policies to prevent inflation from derailing an ailing economy.

The order, confirmed by retailers and newspapers but denied by government officials, comes after retail executives say price-control czar Guillermo Moreno pressured them earlier this week to agree to freeze prices for two months. Executives say Mr. Moreno then told them to pull all newspaper sales ads in hopes this would somehow curb inflation. “This was an imposition, not a request. He simply decided that nobody should publish any ads. It’s not sustainable and will be hard to comply with,” said one retail-sector executive.

urgente24.com — Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina Looking Down Her Nose.

And yes, a light bulb just went on over the president’s head when he read the word “price-control czar.”

Why is Argentina resorting to this dictatorial measure? Simple – to stifle the independent press for one simple reason – “misreporting” inflation, or at least reporting inflation numbers which are orders of magnitude higher than the official government numbers.

Mrs. Kirchner played down inflation for years, refusing even to say the word in public. But with economists estimating annual inflation at around 26%, she has been calling on consumers to prevent companies from raising prices. A sluggish economy and Mrs. Kirchner’s confrontational political style have also taken a toll on her popularity.

The Buenos Aires Newspaper Editors Association said the order was a reprisal against those who publish independent inflation estimates. “This is another display of how far authoritarianism can go in a context that is dominated by discretional policies and bullying,” the group said in a harshly worded newspaper ad Friday.

The controversy comes as Mrs. Kirchner attempts to implement a three-year-old media law that would overhaul Argentina’s media industry and dismantle media giant Grupo Clarín SA, which publishes Argentina’s bestselling newspaper, Clarín, and runs a profitable cable-TV and Internet network.

“This aims to inflict economic damage on all independent media companies,” Clarín spokesman Martin Etchevers said. “On the one hand, it’s another attempt to weaken media that don’t depend on government money. On the other, it’s an attempt to keep people in the dark about inflation.”