Buenos Aires Herald 
Freedom of press watchdogs, media organizations, and journalist unions condemned presidential advisor Santiago Caputo’s intimidating gesture toward a photojournalist from the Tiempo Argentino outlet on Tuesday evening.
Caputo was being photographed as he entered the venue where the debate for Buenos Aires City legislature candidates was taking place. At one point, he placed a hand in front of Antonio Becerra Pergoraro’s camera and began nodding “no” with his head. As the photojournalist continued snapping his image, Caputo took out his cell phone and took a picture of the man’s credentials.
According to Becerra Pergoraro, Caputo also asked him to stop taking pictures. “After snapping a couple of images of my credentials, he turned to me and said, ‘You’re out of line,’” the photographer told Tiempo Argentino.
Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA, for its Spanish initials) condemned the incident. “We reject presidential advisor Santiago Caputo’s intimidating attitude towards Antonio Becerra,” they said in a statement published on X. The organization, self-described as a “promoter of high-quality journalism and freedom of speech advocate,” went on to add that the advisor’s importance within the government, acknowledged by President Milei himself, means that there are “no valid arguments to prevent [photographers from] taking his picture.”
Buenos Aires City journalist union SIPREBA put out a statement saying that they are on alert as “threatening attitudes” continue. “The president’s main advisor wants to scare the press that is trying to inform about his actions,” the union wrote in a post on X, adding that they “demand freedom” to carry out their tasks.
This is not the first time Caputo has been involved in a public incident. In March, UCR Deputy Facundo Manes claimed that Caputo threatened him for criticizing Milei following the president’s beginning-of-the-year address to Congress. Manes added that Caputo later approached him with a companion and allegedly hit the deputy “twice in the chest.”
Manes filed a criminal complaint against Caputo for “coercive threats,” which the judiciary later threw out.
Caputo also made headlines two weeks ago when a leaked uncut version of an interview Milei gave about the $LIBRA cryptocurrency scam showed the advisor interrupting when the president was pressed about his personal responsibility. He apparently instructed Milei to change his answer and journalist Jonatan Viale to restart the question he was asking.
Credit cover picture: Antonio Becerra Pergoraro/Tiempo Argentino
