D1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are there free and independent media? | 3.003 4.004 |
Argentina has a robust and lively media environment. The law guarantees freedom of expression and bans official censorship. However, media ownership is concentrated among large conglomerates that frequently favor a political grouping, and state advertising allocation tends to favor government-friendly media groups. Journalists face occasional harassment and violence, especially when covering corruption and drug-related criminality. Some journalists have faced charges in connection with their investigative work.
D2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are individuals free to practice and express their religious faith or nonbelief in public and private? | 4.004 4.004 |
Freedom of religion is constitutionally guaranteed and enforced in practice. The population is largely Roman Catholic but public education is secular, and religious minorities express their faiths freely.
D3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there academic freedom, and is the educational system free from extensive political indoctrination? | 4.004 4.004 |
Academic freedom is guaranteed by law and largely observed in practice.
D4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are individuals free to express their personal views on political or other sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution? | 4.004 4.004 |
Private discussion is vibrant and largely unrestricted. However, government agencies have been known to monitor social media activity, and intelligence services have been accused of illegally surveilling journalists, politicians, and civil society groups. In November 2022, a federal prosecutor requested that former president Macri be indicted on espionage charges for allegedly using Argentina’s intelligence services to illegally monitor opposition leaders.
E1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there freedom of assembly? | 4.004 4.004 |
Freedom of assembly is generally respected, and citizens frequently organize protests.
E2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there freedom for nongovernmental organizations, particularly those that are engaged in human rights– and governance-related work? | 4.004 4.004 |
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) generally operate without restrictions. Civic organizations, especially those focused on human rights and abuses committed under the 1976–83 dictatorship, play a major role in society, although some fall victim to corruption.
E3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there freedom for trade unions and similar professional or labor organizations? | 3.003 4.004 |
Union influence remains significant, although it has decreased in recent years. Organized labor is dominated by Peronists, and most labor unions have been controlled by the same individuals or groups for decades. Internal opposition to union leadership has been limited by fraud and intimidation.
F1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there an independent judiciary? | 2.002 4.004 |
The Supreme Court is relatively independent and has resisted executive overreach. However, lower and province-level courts have close ties with political actors and engage in corrupt practices.
Leaders of the ruling coalition frequently attack judicial rulings and accuse the courts of ideological bias. President Fernández continued to accuse the judiciary of political bias in 2022, including in December, after the Supreme Court effectively reversed a 2020 decree that had substantially cut the percentage of federal funds allocated to the opposition-led city of Buenos Aires. The president initially said he would not comply with the ruling, which restored funding to the capital city, but later agreed to accept it.
After taking office, President Fernández and Vice President Fernández de Kirchner proposed legal reforms that, if enacted, could diminish judicial independence. The government has also tried to limit the independence of the body that names and removes judges.
Numerous vacancies and interim appointments hinder the autonomy of the judiciary: one seat on the 5-member Supreme Court has been vacant since late 2021, the role of national ombudsperson has remained vacant for 13 years, and the position of chief prosecutor has been filled on a temporary basis since 2017.
F2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Does due process prevail in civil and criminal matters? | 3.003 4.004 |
The right to due process is constitutionally protected and generally upheld. However, security officers and some judges are suspected of maintaining criminal ties. Prisons are overcrowded and inmates live in unsuitable conditions. Pretrial detainees represented 54 percent of the country’s prison population as of December 2022.
In September, the attorney general’s office reported that a total of 1,088 convictions for crimes committed during the 1976–83 dictatorship had been attained since 2006.
F3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Is there protection from the illegitimate use of physical force and freedom from war and insurgencies? | 2.002 4.004 |
Argentina’s homicide rate is low compared to other Latin American countries, but violence from criminal groups and the security forces remains a serious issue. International criminal organizations use Argentina as an operational base and a transit route; the country’s northern and central regions are particularly affected. Drug-related violence has increased in recent years, especially in the port city of Rosario.
Police misconduct, torture, and brutality against detainees is endemic. Arbitrary arrests and abuses by police are rarely punished in the courts, and police officers commonly collude with drug traffickers.
In recent years, there have been violent clashes between security forces and Indigenous Mapuche activists in Argentina’s Patagonia region, as well as repeated confrontations between local residents and activists. Some activists have used violence to seize and occupy land.
F4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population? | 3.003 4.004 |
Argentina has robust antidiscrimination laws, but enforcement is uneven. Indigenous peoples, approximately 2.4 percent of the population, face government neglect, disproportionate levels of poverty, and poor access to services. Displays of xenophobia against migrants and race-based discrimination are common. Women enjoy legal equality, but continue to face economic discrimination and gender-based wage gaps.
Argentina’s LGBT+ population enjoys full legal rights, including marriage, adoption, and the right to serve in the military. However, LGBT+ people do face some degree of societal discrimination, and occasionally, serious violence.
G1 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do individuals enjoy freedom of movement, including the ability to change their place of residence, employment, or education? | 4.004 4.004 |
The government generally respects citizens’ constitutional right to travel both inside and outside of Argentina. People are free to change their place of education or employment.
Argentina implemented one of the world’s strictest and most prolonged COVID-19 lockdowns. Bans and restrictions on domestic and international travel were sometimes arbitrary and gave way to abuses; security officers used disproportionate force to enforce measures. Almost all COVID-19-related restrictions were lifted in September 2021, including border controls. The government continued to ease remaining travel restrictions during 2022.
Score Change: The score improved from 3 to 4 because Argentinian authorities lifted COVID-19-related movement restrictions and have subsequently refrained from arbitrary and abusive treatment of travelers.
G2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Are individuals able to exercise the right to own property and establish private businesses without undue interference from state or nonstate actors? | 3.003 4.004 |
Citizens generally enjoy the right to own property and establish private businesses. Economic instability, cumbersome regulations, and corruption affect the private sector at all levels.
Approximately 70 percent of the country’s rural Indigenous communities lack titles to their lands, and forced evictions, while technically illegal, still occur. Indigenous communities continue to struggle to defend their land rights and reclaim traditional lands.
G3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do individuals enjoy personal social freedoms, including choice of marriage partner and size of family, protection from domestic violence, and control over appearance? | 4.004 4.004 |
Argentinians enjoy broad freedom regarding marriage and divorce. Same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples were legalized in 2010. A 2012 gender-identity law allows people to legally change their gender.
Gender-based violence remains a serious problem. The ombudsperson’s office reported 242 femicides in 2022.
Abortion was legalized up to the 14th week of pregnancy in 2020, a landmark decision in Latin America.
G4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
| Do individuals enjoy equality of opportunity and freedom from economic exploitation? | 3.003 4.004 |
Argentina faces high poverty rates aggravated by high inflation. In the first half of 2022, the poverty rate was 36.5 percent, with 8.8 percent of people living in extreme poverty.
Forced labor is high in sectors such as garment and brick production, agriculture, and domestic work. At least half of the workforce is informally employed and lacks labor rights and legal protections. Sex trafficking is a serious concern, and efforts to combat it have been hindered by corruption and the complicity of some officials, according to the US State Department’s 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report.
