Lieutenant General Presti was sworn in as the new Minister of Defense before Milei and assembled a team with an important military presence

In front of Javier Milei, who always greeted the audience with a smile or the familiar movement of his eyebrows, Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto Presti was sworn in as the new defense minister. “Yes, I swear,” said the now former army chief, dressed as an active-duty soldier, before the president of the nation, in a dark suit and light blue tie, when he asked him, with the Bible in front of him and in the White Room of the Casa Rosada, whether he would swear to “God, the country and the Holy Gospels” and his responsibilities with “loyalty, honor, patriotism and respect for the Constitution and the laws” under threat of lawsuit.

Next to US Ambassador Peter LamelasAmong the guests were members of the cabinet, Prime Minister Manuel Adorni; that of Security, Alejandra Monteoliva, and her predecessor, the current Senator Patricia Bullrich. Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, who will now coordinate with defense on integrated issues. The Minister of the Interior Diego Santilli. That of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona. Santiago Bausili, President of the Central Bank. And the inevitable: Karina Milei, Secretary General of the Presidency; the advisor Santiago Caputo and the ministers Sandra Pettovello (human capital); Mario Lugones (Health). Among others, Eduardo “Lule” Menem.

Next to Milei and Presti Luis Petri, now national deputy for Mendoza and the last minister to resign.

Five to six high-ranking military officials and two civilians will form Carlos Alberto Presti’s new cabinet.

Although Presti already has a signature as of this Thursday the 11th, from this Friday the already announced changes in the leadership of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the leadership of the respective branches of the armed forces will begin. And beyond that, positions that Clarín could also ratify are beginning to be confirmed, with a high military presence in a ministry that will now be headed by a military man for the first time since the dictatorship.

This way, The most delayed change in government because Milei allowed the now former minister Luis Petri to be the protagonist of the arrival of the F16 fighter jets to complete his transition to the Chamber of Deputies On Wednesday the 10th, he will now place the defense challenges in the hands of Presti, a soldier closest to his sister Karina.

Among the most urgent are addressing the low salaries of uniformed personnel, promising to increase them, and resolving the disastrous economic situation of the armed forces and security forces’ social work, which leaves some 600,000 members poorly cared for – if not unattended. And a debt of millions to creditors.

Minister Presti promised to launch an audit that will not be the same as Petri promised when he left office. This does not take into account Milei’s promise that the military conversion will not end with the purchase of the 24 F-16 fighter jets, which come from Denmark but from the USA. There are promises of submarines, helicopters and munitions in extremely complex times. The Minister of Deregulation, Federico Rumpfenegger, has already met with Presti’s team to carry out a restructuring, a realignment. The administrative chainsaw promises to reach the Ministry of Defense.

Just as I expected Clarion, Presti decided to surround himself with a team he trusted, most of them Army soldiers like him, some of them active duty military like himself, which is a big difference from what had happened. After being sworn in as minister, Presti thanked Milei for the trust and declared that he would continue “the mission entrusted by the president” to “build a military instrument worthy of Argentina’s leading role in the world.” In order to “defend the homeland,” it is “essential to ensure the development of the Argentine Republic.” And he considered it an honor to be sworn in on “Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of the Americas.”

He chose active Brigadier General Jorge Alberto Puebla, previously Director General of Education and Vice Chancellor of UNDEF, as Vice Minister. The position is precisely that of Minister of Strategy and Military Affairs. He was a classmate of Presti, number 118. They graduated from the National Military College in 1987. Puebla belongs to the group of engineers. He has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA – UNICEN). And Doctor of Political Science (USAL).

In the next position, which Clarín also anticipated, a civilian follows. And it must be of the highest trust: Political scientist Guillermo Madero, great-great-grandson of Eduardo Madero, promoter and administrator of the first port of Buenos Aires, will be chief of staff. It is a very sensitive position that involves political, administrative, technical and personal matters of the ministerial leadership. Guillermo Madero is a civilian who describes himself as a “soldier of the cause.” He served as Undersecretary of State for Civil Defense and Humanitarian Protection under the leadership of Luis Petri.

This Thursday, the distinguished academic Juan Battaleme, Minister of International Defense Relations for these two years, submitted his resignation from his post. – will be replaced by retired Colonel Daniel Martella. It’s a strange case for a power like Presti itself to take on this. Both the new minister and Martella are children of soldiers who are facing legal cases against the dictatorship. But they, Presti and Martella, are soldiers fully trained in and committed to democracy.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Martella is the brother of First Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, who died in the Malvinas War. And he is the son of General Santiago Martella, who was secretary general of the presidency and head of the federal police during the dictatorship.

Kirchnerism arbitrarily retired Daniel Martella because he was a “son of.” He was even the ministry’s national director of planning and strategy. In order to take over the position, he asked to work with Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, which was a problem during Gerardo Werthein’s foreign policy leadership. Both Petri and Patricia Bullrich from the security service and the uniformed men themselves complained about the secrecy and bureaucracy of the Foreign Ministry. Quirno and Martella were at the United Nations together.

The other civilian who will occupy the ministry is Mario Alejandro Katzenell, who, together with Martella, will be responsible for refining the new directive on national defense, which was ultimately not presented in Petri’s time and will now come out with stronger content, they promise. But there will also be a high proportion of allies of the United States and Israel, this newspaper learned, and “no” negative or positive reference to China, it says.

Brigadier General Carlos Horacio Martín will join the new ministry and will be responsible for logistics related to everything related to the management of the ministry, the minister, the presidential fleet of the Antarctic campaign and much more. Meanwhile, Colonel Ariel Andrés Mira Peña will be the Undersecretary of Production and Administration. In other words, he is the man who manages the household budget, which is mainly intended for salaries. The consultant and academic Fabián Calle would also stay.

While Presti will have a soldier as assistant and a general in charge of getting the IOSFA crisis back under control – the ministry says that, as it turns out, it will not be Brigadier General Omar Horacio Domínguez – his wife, who has worked at the ministry for 15 years, will also accompany him in the work. This is the lawyer Verónica Beltramino, legal advisor to the Ministry of Defense, whom he met as a work colleague and with whom he started a family.

As for retirement, Brigadier General Xavier Isaac will essentially leave and be replaced as Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Navy Vice Admiral Marcelo Dalle Nogare. Oscar Zarich will be chief of the army in Presti’s place, and there will be retirements below. As in the Navy, because Vice Admiral Juan Carlos Romay will replace the outgoing Admiral Carlos Allievi. And three more will, in principle, go with the sailor.