Argentina's Milei restores press access to presidency after a ban sparks backlash

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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — President Javier Milei of Argentina restored journalists' access to his government headquarters on Monday, more than a week after his decision to block credentialed reporters from the building — accompanied by a volley of online insults — triggered backlash from lawmakers and press freedom advocates.

Journalists said early Monday that they could enter the Casa Rosada — or the Pink House, Argentina’s equivalent of the White House — for the first time since April 23. That was the day that Milei’s spokesperson announced the closure of the press room used for decades by reporters with credentials to cover the president.

The ban added to a list of attacks and reprisals against news organizations by Milei, whose hostility toward the press mirrors the aggressive approach of his ally and powerful backer, U.S. President Donald Trump. Journalists and their advocates rebuked the move as an attack on press freedom in Argentina.

In the past two years, Argentina’s ranking has plummeted on a press freedom index maintained by Reporters Without Borders, the group reported last week. It fell from 66 to 98 — among the biggest drops of any country in South America.

Authorities justified the restrictions for the roughly 60 members of the Casa Rosada press corps as a necessary security measure after they accused a local TV channel of espionage for using smart glasses to film parts of the headquarters without authorization.

The channel, Todo Noticias, insists it received official permission to capture the footage and that the images of corridors and meeting spaces aired in the TV segment have long been accessible to the public.

After condemnation poured in from business chambers, the Catholic Church and politicians across the spectrum, Milei’s Cabinet chief announced the decision to reverse the ban. But Manuel Adorni said the government would revise rules for credentialed journalists in the Casa Rosada to address its security concerns.

“There will definitely be changes,” Adorni told a Buenos Aires radio station last week, without specifying the new provisions.

Milei, at odds with the press to a degree unseen since the 1983 restoration of Argentine democracy, has escalated his media-bashing in recent weeks as his flagship campaigns against corruption and inflation falter.

Nearly every day, he posts the slogan “We don’t hate journalists enough" on social media. As he entered Congress last Tuesday to support Adorni in his defense against allegations of illicit enrichment, Milei hurled insults at the journalists peppering him with questions about the scandal.

“You're the corrupt ones,” he shouted.