Argentine Ambassador to the United States, Héctor Timerman, accused daily Clarín of defending the 1976-1983 Argentine dictatorship in an editorial published today.

In another row in the dispute between the government and the Buenos Aires newspaper, the Argentine ambassador in Washington accused Clarín of defending the laws of the military rule in an attempt to "block the people's access to information and preserve the monopoly of Clarín" in national broadcasting.

Timerman's comments were made two days after the Lower House of Congress passed a law, which many critics say will tighten controls on the media, which would bar companies that own air TV stations from operating cable TV networks.

Clarín, which owns several cable TV signals including TN, Volver and TyC Sports, has launched a massive campaign against the government-sponsored bill, which is expected to be easily approved by the government's majority in the Senate.

If it is passed in the Upper House, the law would force Clarín to sell its cable stations in less than a year. Otherwise, the government would take over those companies. This has sparked heavy critics from opposition lawmakers, who have described the Broadcasting Bill as an attempt of the Kirchner administration to control dissident media.

Today, talking to reporters of state-run agency Télam, Timerman said the controversial Broadcasting Bill "leads us to a more democratic and modern world. Freedom of expression takes place when there are a lot of sources of information."

The left-wing ambassador, whose father was tortured by the last dictatorship, said "the directors of the company are playing a regrettable role. They are not simply trying to defend Clarín's monopoly, but also they are defending a law of the dictatorship." The current law was approved by a dictatorial decree in 1981.