Ricardo Gangeme

Wile Argentina fell deeper into economic crisis during 2001, and President Fernando de la Rúa resigned in disgrace as a result, the media worked largely unhindered. But the worsening economy hurt advertising and sales, and the Supreme Court dealt damaging blows to press freedom.

IN A FRUSTRATING YEAR FOR PRESS FREEDOM in Argentina, a proposed bill that would have eliminated criminal penalties for defamation cases involving public officials foundered after local journalists implicated members of the Senate in a major bribery scandal. Senators who had supported the proposed bill quickly withdrew their support.

The long battle to reform Argentina's onerous press laws began in 1992, when then-president Carlos Menem filed criminal charges against investigative reporter Horacio Verbitsky for desacato, or disrespect. Verbitsky appealed his prosecution to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which ruled in his favor. Under the settlement terms, the Argentine government agreed to repeal its desacato law, which it did in 1993.

[Click here for full list of documented cases]

At its most fundamental level, the job of a journalist is to bear witness. In 1999, journalists in Sierra Leone witnessed rebels' atrocities against civilians in the streets of Freetown. In the Balkans, journalists watched ethnic Albanians fleeing the deadly menace of Serbian police and paramilitaries. In Indonesia, they recorded the violence of Indonesian-backed militias against supporters of political independence. Some who wrote about what they witnessed ended up dying because of the stories they told.

During his decade in office, former president Carlos Menem used a flurry of lawsuits to stifle independent reporting in Argentina. His best efforts failed. When Menem stepped down on December 10, he left behind a vital and independent Argentine press.

Journalists, particularly those in the provinces, continue to worry about their physical safety. The May 13 murder of Ricardo Gangeme, publisher and editor of the weekly magazine El Informador Chubutense, in the town of Trelew, in Chubut Province, drove home the point. At year's end, investigators were focusing on the theory that Gangeme was killed because of his reporting on local officials.

14 de junio de 1999
Carlos Saúl Menem
Presidente de la Repœblica de Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina


Su Excelencia,

El Comité para la Protección de Periodistas (CPJ, por sus siglas en inglés) le escribe esta misiva para expresar su preocupación por la muerte ayer de Ricardo Gangeme, director de la revista semanal El Informador Chubutense, en la población de Trelew, provincia de Chubut. Esperamos que la investigación pronto llegue a una conclusión.

May 14, 1999

Carlos Saúl Menem
President of Argentina
Buenos Aires, Argentina


Your Excellency,

Your Excellency,

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its sorrow over yesterday's murder of Ricardo Gangeme, publisher and editor of the weekly magazine El Informador Chubutense, in the town of Trelew, Chubut Province. We hope that the investigation will soon reach a successful conclusion.