Congress is currently debating the Transparency and Disclosure of Interest Representation Bill, introduced on May 22nd by President Javier Milei and presented as a measure to regulate lobbying and influence over government decision-making.
The activities it seeks to regulate include meeting with legislators to support or oppose a reform bill, speaking with a public official about the implementation of a policy, participating in a consortium of journalists funded by a nongovernmental organization based abroad, being part of a group of victims seeking justice for a violent crime, and many other forms of civic engagement.
If enacted, the bill would require both individuals and organizations to report every interaction they have with public officials or legislators. It would apply equally to business leaders and organized workers, journalists and human rights defenders. It would also create a new state bureaucracy to enforce requirements that the executive branch would later define through regulations at its own discretion. The bill offers no explanation as to why existing reporting obligations for civil society organizations, foundations, cooperatives, and other entities are insufficient. To make matters worse, it establishes prison penalties for those who seek to influence public decision-makers without complying with the new rules, while imposing no equivalent penalties on public officials who fail to do so.
Together with a coalition of more than 190 organizations, we have warned that the bill violates the rights to participate in public affairs and to petition public authorities. It also threatens the very existence of hundreds of grassroots and community organizations across the country, particularly those with limited institutional capacity. Many would struggle to meet the new requirements and would lack the resources to defend themselves if authorities targeted them.
The bill’s very introduction serves to deepen suspicion toward organized civil society by equating public-interest advocacy with corporate efforts to secure economic advantages from the state. The same logic underpins the category of “foreign principal” included in the proposal. While the government promotes the Bill on the Inviolability of Private Property which, among other things, facilitates foreign control over land and common goods, it seeks to expand its surveillance powers under the guise of protecting the national interest.
Through this bill, the government seeks to normalize restrictions on political participation and freedom of expression while granting the state even greater powers of monitoring, control, and persecution. Its approval would add yet another tool to a broader strategy that includes defunding civil society, expanding the intelligence apparatus, spreading disinformation, and encouraging attacks by public officials. Together, these measures reflect a political project built on the aspiration to govern without an organized society.
The committees reviewing the bill in the Chamber of Deputies invited us to express our opinion, which we did in a public session held on June 10. You can find more information about the key points of concern here.