The tension between militant journalism, the chroniclers accredited in Casa Rosada and the figures of the mass media added a new and dark chapter on social networks. What began as a debate about access restrictions to the Government headquarters for the journalist Liliana Francoended with an outburst of Jorge Rial which was disowned for its aggressive and homophobic content.
The origin of the conflict
The controversy ignited when Liliana Franco, accredited historian of Financial Areareported difficulties entering the Casa Rosada. The versions indicated that the restriction responded to their insistent questions about an alleged plot of russian espionage. Given this, Rial minimized the situation through his X account (former Twitter): “That nonsense did not exist. Stop rubbing the back of this government. They despise you and laugh at you”the driver shot Argenzuela.
Franco, far from avoiding confrontation, described the official investigation on the issue as “lack of paper” and accused the Executive of using the episode to leak journalists. “I already know that ‘they don’t love me'”he concluded in his response to Rial.
Díaz Cueto’s intervention
The exchange escalated when he intervened. Tomas Diaz Cuetoa chronicler aligned with official communication. The young journalist questioned Rial and other opposition media leaders, such as Roberto Navarro and Mauro Federico, for the alleged elimination of articles related to the case: “Why did they delete the notes, Liliana? Why did they delete them if there were no fakes?”he consulted, suggesting a coordinated press operation.
The response and homophobic bias
Jorge Rial’s reaction abandoned any hint of professional debate to enter the field of personal and sexualized aggression. “Babe. I spit out the l… of the Riojan first because you don’t understand anything”the driver posted.
The reference to the “riojano” would allude to Martin Menempresident of the Chamber of Deputies and central figure in the assembly of La Libertad Avanza. Rial’s comment not only sought to disqualify Díaz Cueto’s work due to his youth and his political stance, but also used a metaphor with sexual content to denigrate him, resorting to homophobic stereotypes to invalidate his opinion.
This episode once again puts the limit of confrontation on social networks under the microscope, where the debate of ideas is usually replaced by attacks that border on discrimination, even by figures who, in other contexts, perceive themselves as defenders of rights and diversity. For the moment, the driver has not retracted his statements, which generated strong rejection in the journalistic community.
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