Knock, knock

ARGENTINA has few advocates of freedom of speech more vocal than its president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. “Anyone can say whatever they like without fear of repression,” she said in 2010, and called herself an “icon of where freedom of speech is exercised” because of the insults she had suffered. Indeed, Argentina has not jailed anyone for speaking out during her presidency. But she has often used other means to silence her critics.

The government’s most blatant move to limit speech took place last year. Since 2007 it has doctored its inflation statistics to keep them below the true rate. That led investors, firms and journalists to consult private economists, who publish their own consumer-price indices.