He government made official by Decree 869/2025, published this Tuesday in the Official Gazettethe output of Luis Petri of the Ministry of National Defense to fill a seat in the Chamber of Deputies and the appointment of Carlos Presti to replace him as head of the portfolio. The executive announced the move days earlier, along with the appointment of Alejandra Monteoliva to replace Patricia Bullrich in security.
Petri’s departure had been known since the LLA + Cambia Mendoza alliance nominated him months ago as its first candidate for deputy for the province of Mendoza. Later, in the elections, the official took over the position 53.69% of votes compared to 25.10% his person being persecuted by Fuerza Patria. After the election victory, the government announced the change.
“The President of the Nation, Javier Milei, thanks Minister Patricia Bullrich and Minister Luis Petri for their services since December 10 a new stage will begin Promoting the ideas of freedom from the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, respectively,” the government said in a November 22 statement.
The lieutenant general takes his place Carlos Alberto Presti, the head of the army, 59 years old, who is the first soldier to head the defense ministry since the return of democracy. As Milei described it, it is “a person who is willing to do what is right for the country“.
Petri’s departure from the portfolio in the Libertador building at 250 Azopardo Street did not go unnoticed. Last weekend there was an exhibition of the F-16 fighter jets that the national government purchased from Denmark. In addition, in the previous week the military leadership was almost completely renewed and this Tuesday Petri travels to Antarctica to end his defense leadership.
It should be noted that on Monday afternoon he publicly announced his resignation with a letter addressed to President Javier Milei, which he shared through his social networks. “It will remain in my memory and in my heart that I served as Secretary of Defense during his presidency. It will forever be an honor“, defined Petri.
“He has entrusted me with a mission of enormous importance: to rebuild the operational capability of the defense system, to modernize our armed forces, to project them into the future and, above all, to support our men and women after decades of cruelty, demonization, persecution and cancellation based on ideological bias,” the outgoing official wrote.
In this sense, he spoke of the importance of reassessing the role of the armed forces, to whom “the country owes its independence and freedom,” despite the attacks of “the previous Kirchnerist governments.” “Thanks to their constant support, we have been able to carry out reforms that seemed impossible for years and give back to military and civilian personnel the pride of belonging to an army that is respected and valued by society,” assessed Petri.
And he concluded: “Under your leadership, Argentina will be the freest country in the world (…) I reiterate my great respect, my infinite gratitude and my pride in having accompanied you in your cabinet (…) Long live freedom! Long live the fatherland!”
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