The executive has issued a decree of necessity and urgency, which will be published in the coming days sweeping changes to the National Intelligence Law (25,520), with a major reorganization of the intelligence system, greater centralization in the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE), and the expansion of operational authority for branch organizations.
The DNU stipulates that all intelligence activities are of a “covert” naturefor its sensitivity and with the aim of reducing “national strategic risk”. This definition is adopted as a general principle and marks a conceptual change in how the system works.
It also gives you the power to “arrest” people if you catch them in the act, and you must notify the relevant security forces. You can also do this with a court order.
Key changes include the transformation of the National Security Agency into the new National Counterintelligence Agency, whose central mission will be to prevent threats such as espionage, sabotage, foreign interference and influence operations that could affect the country’s constitutional order or strategic interests. Counterintelligence measures must be taken throughout the country’s public sector.
In digital matters, the government has introduced the separation between cybersecurity and cyberintelligence. For this purpose, the National Cybersecurity Center was created, which becomes dependent on the Chief of Staff, while the former Federal Cybersecurity Agency was transformed into the Federal Cyberintelligence Agency, which reports to SIDE and focuses exclusively on intelligence in cyberspace.
Another relevant change is the dissolution of the National Directorate of Military Strategic Intelligence. From now on, all military-strategic intelligence is concentrated in the Chiefs of General Staff of the Armed Forces, with the aim of avoiding overlaps and simplifying the structure.
The decree also grants greater power to SIDE, which begins to directly run the entire national intelligence system. to approve and control the territory’s budgets – including reserved expenditure – and to request information from all national state authorities as well as the provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
The decision gives a boost to Santiago Caputo, the advisor who controls the intelligence sector, but is also a sign of Karina Milei’s dominance in the field. The head of SIDE, Cristian Auguadra, was appointed by Caputo following the departure of Sergio Neiffert. But Karina will now control the cybersecurity division, which reports to the chief of staff, controlled by Manuel Adorni, one of her most trusted men.
As a novelty, two coordination areas will be created: the National Intelligence Community, which integrates the intelligence services, the armed forces, the security forces and the Financial Information Unit; and the National Information Community, which includes key organizations such as Migration, Renaper, Customs, the State Department and areas related to energy, nuclear power and space. Its task will be to provide relevant information for the production of information.
One of the DNU’s most sensitive issues is the authority of intelligence personnel to protect its facilities and operations. fending off attacks and arresting people if they are open, with immediate notification of the responsible security forces.
The decree is already in force and must be analyzed by the bicameral Commission on Oversight of Intelligence and Activities of Congress as part of a debate on the scope of the new powers and the use of the DNU to change a law considered sensitive.
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