Lt. Gen. Carlos Alberto Presti, Who will succeed? Luis Petri As defense minister, he will not be the only soldier moving from the 3rd to the 11th floor of the Libertador building, where the army headquarters and the minister’s office are located. As far as he could tell LA NACION intends to involve the military in leadership.
Although the cabinet that will accompany Presti has not yet been finalized, that is Major General Jorge Alberto Puebla He would take over as Minister of Strategy and Military Affairs (Vice Minister in internal jargon). The outgoing Minister Petri had retired soldiers in this role – Lieutenant General Claudio Pasqualini and Colonel Marcelo Rozas Garay – but the new thing is that Puebla a Active duty soldier with 42 years of service in the Army.
Furthermore, the Lt. Col. Daniel Enrique Martella, who was retired during the Kirchnerist period Secretary of Defense for International Affairs. The controversial decision to end his military career in 2013, during the government of Cristina Kirchner, may have been motivated by the fact that he is the son of a general who served during the military dictatorship.
Various sources give the 59-year-old General Puebla possible deputy defense minister in the new government. After training in the Army of Engineers, he entered Class 118 of the Military College, where he was a classmate of Presti. As Director General of Army Training, he has been responsible for managing the force’s training institutes since 2024: the Military College, the Higher War School, the Sergeant Cabral Non-Commissioned Officers School and the military colleges.
In recent days it has emerged that another soldier, Brigadier General Omar Horacio Domínguezwould be referred to President of the almost bankrupt Institute of Social Work of the Armed Forces and Security Forces (Iosfa), This leads to a severe crisis with benefit cuts and a debt of $200,000 million. He was director of the military hospital and has been so since January 2024 Director General of Army Health, appointed there by Presti in his capacity as head of the force.
Domínguez’s possible appointment was strengthened by the fact that he was not given a role in the army’s new leadership after two years in charge of health. But in the last 24 hours, military sources They questioned his appointment in Iosfa, However, nothing is certain yet, especially in an area marked by crisis and confusion.
Given the shape that Presti’s cabinet will take, expectations are growing on various areas that the minister will have to cover, such as: National Directorate of Military Strategic Intelligence and the Directorate for Human Rights, Gender Equality and International Humanitarian Law.
He Brigadier General Carlos Horacio Martín He then headed the Defense Logistics Agency, a strategic organization responsible for ensuring the supply of military operations (weapons, fuel and food) and the maintenance and transportation of equipment and materials.
Already named Vice Admiral Marcelo Alejandro Dalle Nogare As head of the Armed Forces’ Joint Chiefs of Staff, control of which will revert to the Navy after 30 years, Petri would serve as deputy chief Brigadier General Sergio Jurczyszyn, current commander of the Army’s Rapid Deployment Force.
The one that appears confirmed is the one Mr. Guillermo Madero as head of the new minister’s advisory cabinet. He was part of Petri’s management Undersecretary of State for Civil Defense and Humanitarian Protection, with the task of coordinating the work of the armed forces in response to requirements in disaster situations, such as the emergency that shook Bahía Blanca. Madero is considered “a very executive person” in the Libertador building.
In addition to drafting his Cabinet and preparing for his inauguration, which would take place this Friday, Presti is carrying out the transition this week in the Army, where he will place leadership in the hands of one of his colleagues at the Military Academy: General Oscar Santiago Zarich, who developed his military career in operational positions and currently accompanies Presti as commander of training and enlistment of the armed forces.
Zarich joined the first Argentine United Nations battalion in Croatia in 1992 and was chief of the Antarctic base San Martín, the 25th Mechanized Infantry Regiment and the 1st Patricios Regiment.
The landing of the soldiers on the 11th floor of the Libertador building corresponds to the arguments made by President Milei when announcing Presti’s appointment. When the Libertarian leader announced the news in late November last year, he publicly expressed his strong call for political leadership to “stop the demonization of our officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers,” alluding to prejudices and problems that have arisen over the past 40 years.
This call for vindication could be applied to the possible appointment of Lieutenant Colonel Martella as head of the Secretariat for International Defense Affairs, a key organ in Argentina’s military relations with other countries, particularly the United States.
Martella graduated from the military academy in 1984 – three years before Presti – and served missions with the United Nations, where he took part in the peace process in East Timor. He was retired in 2013 during the administration of Agustín Rossi, which did not allow him to continue these duties in the international organization.
He is known for his ability to think and propose scenarios in the face of 21st century challenges in terms of strategic thinking and defense policy. He was appointed by Petri for the last two years and took part in the management as National Director of Planning and Strategy in the Ministry of Defense.
His father, the General Luis Santiago Martella, He was commander of the IV Airborne Infantry Brigade and served as Secretary General of the Presidency during the de facto government of Roberto Eduardo Viola, after which he became chief of the Federal Police.
After democracy was restored, the soldier was convicted Crimes against humanity in the La Perla mega case, in 2016 and died the following year.
Another son of the military, Lieutenant Luis Carlos Martella, He was also an army officer and fought in the Malvinas, where died in battle on the Dos Hermanas mountain, west of Puerto Argentino.
Finally, in recent days, the deputy chief of the army has been mentioned, Brigadier General Carlos Alberto Carugno as a possible owner of Financial Assistance Institute for the Payment of Military Retirements and Pensions (IAF), which is responsible for paying out around 300,000 pensions to members of the Bundeswehr and makes investments on the financial market to grant loans. However, other candidates would have emerged for a position that manages a large budget. It concerns the couple who were led in the management of Petri by the accountant Francisco Jorge Adorni, the brother of the chief of staff Manuel Adorni.
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