Kirchner's Assault on the Press

[Commentary] For almost a decade, loyalists to the Argentine republic have warned that the nation is headed for a return to authoritarian rule.

Last week President Cristina Kirchner strengthened their case by moving to strip the two largest newspapers in the country of their ownership in the largest domestic supplier of newsprint. Argentine opposition leader Elisa Carrió says Kirchner supporters have used physical intimidation in front of the company's headquarters in Buenos Aires, and the government has harassed the company through its tax and regulatory agencies. After Mrs. Kirchner lost control of Congress in the June 2009 elections, she used the lame duck session that followed to push through a media law that gives the government the power to deny licenses to long-established television stations. The law also expands the government's share of the market. Clarín, which is in the television business, will be hurt by this. In recent weeks the government also revoked Clarín's license to operate as an Internet service provider. But print media, particularly Clarín and La Nación, remain a threat to Mrs. Kirchner. And this is why she is going after Papel Prensa. She aims to control the supply of newsprint and imprison principals of both companies.