Jacobo Timerman and press freedom in Argentina's military period

Latin America: The National Period

Under serious threats to a country's national security, it is unavoidable to commit some abuses against freedom of the press and individual rights."

In his book, "Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number" Jacobo Timerman elaborates on his experiences as a journalist and political prisoner during Argentina's Peronist period. Because of his political views and ability to voice them in the liberal daily "La Opini n" he was deemed a threat to national security, and was subsequently stripped of his citizenship and became one of many Argentina's 'missing'. Unlike so many others, Timerman was fortunate enough to be released into Exile where he publicly denounced the Argentinean regime and brought to light the many atrocities against humanity.

Timerman recalls that the newspaper was called "an adversary of the military government for being terrorist, an adversary of mass culture for publishing sophisticated writers, an adversary of Christian morality for publishing leftist writers, an adversary of the left for publishing the work of Soviet dissidents, and an adversary of the family for writing about the sexual habits of young Americans."

It was for these reasons that the military took him as prisoner. Some may argue that under adverse conditions, a person's freedoms may be stepped upon in order to safe-guard the safety of a nation and it's people, but in the case of Timerman, it is easy to see that there was no justification for his extreme treatment, or prolonged term in prison.

Besides taking away his personal freedom and his personal rights, the military shut down the paper and any liberal opinions that it printed along with it. Timerman had expressed his opinions through the press as a journalist, and this too was dangerous for the Peron government. In his case, Timerman's political opinions were deemed a threat in print and person. This fear of liberal thinking or that which goes against the government is evident in many countries and scenarios, but shouldn't lead to a government taking away personal rights and freedoms.