Argentina's state run telecommunications company, ARSAT, has denounced President Mauricio Macri for his media reforms, which have resulted in massive layoffs within the communications sector – particularly those who “do not fit his political guideline.”
Through their Facebook page, Workers of ARSAT Defend their Sovereignty, the state media company said Monday that the layoffs went against previous government promises that “no one would be left without work.”
The organization, which was previously funded by the left-wing government of Cristina Fernandez, added that the decision to layoff workers was not only an economic decision, but an ideological one.
OPINION: Mauricio Macri: A Rather Authoritarian Beginning
“We understand that this responds to a logic of downsizing the state and ideological persecution of workers who do not fit their political guideline,” said the facebook statement.
ARSAT is the latest to protest the new communications reforms instituted by the new right-wing government of President Macri. Its workers will join the list of more than 12,000 public employees recently fired by the president.
ARSAT is the Argentine state telecommunications company that provides telecommunications services to the country through a combination of land, air and space infrastructure. It also designed, developed and manufactured the two Argentine satellites now in orbit and built a third.
As part of the media reforms, President Macri also replaced the major heads in the state communications sector last week. Journalist Jorge Sigal is now the new Secretary of Public Media, Gabriela Ricardes was appointed the new Secretary of Public Contents, and Gustavo Gonzalez as the Under Secretary of Thematic Federal Centers.
RELATED: Argentina: A Sad Day for Journalists
Open all references in tabs: [1 - 4]