Judge issues injunction blocking Macri's takeover of AFSCA media monopoly watchdog. [View all]

Judge Luis Arias of the La Plata (Buenos Aires Province) administrative law district issued an injunction prohibiting Argentine President Mauricio Macri from modifying the Federal Authority of Audiovisual Communication Services (AFSCA) or the Authority for Information Technology and Communications (AFTIC).

Macri had issued decrees on December 23 that dissolved the AFSCA and AFTIC, replaced their directors without Senate confirmation, and merged them into a single entity that regulates communications: the National Authority for Communications (ENACOM). None of the decrees were submitted to congressional review.

Arias explained that while his ruling "does not bar presidential intervention in the agencies or the reinstatement of displaced authorities, it prevents, for example, the removal of any of its officials or employees as well the merger of the two communications agencies." "We have done this," Arias noted, "because we think these decrees were flagrant violations that flout international standards. These are preventive measures to minimize the damage." Macri's ENACOM, Arias added, "stands rescinded as of today."

Referring to Macri's stated decision to rule by decree until the Senate returns from its normal recess on March 1, Arias noted that "the fact that Congress is closed is not an 'emergency' (as required by Article 99 of the Argentine Constitution). There needs to be a major disaster for that to be the case, and the Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly in that regard." "There is then no reason to change a law by decree; this is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and the law allows us to take preventive measures against fragrant violations such as these decrees."

"The administration has to respect the law," Arias stressed. "We are used to mentioning 'the Government' in reference to the executive; but the government includes Congress even in presidential regimes. Americans, for instance, do not talk about the 'Obama government', but rather the 'Obama administration' because government must always include Congress."

"Faced with a threat to the international responsibility of the State in accordance with decisions from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, as cited in this court's ruling, I think there is a situation of imminent damage we had to try to mitigate," Judge Arias concluded.

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The Special Rapporteur (monitor) on Freedom of Expression for the OAS, Edison Lanza, was unequivocal regarding Macri's attempted power grab over the media: "Trying to make the AFSCA in the image of the new government is going back to the times when governments had full control over the body" - a clear reference to Argentina's infamous 1976-83 dictatorship. http://www.democraticunderground.com/110846509