Finally, Carlos Alberto Presti It was officially classified as new. Minister of Defense from December 10th, according to publication in the Official Journal of the Decree 869/2025. The appointment of the lieutenant general had already emerged from the government after the previous department head Luis Petri had been sworn in as state deputy Freedom Advances (LLA)from Mendoza, last week.
This is stated in the decree published this Tuesday Presti He will take over as defense minister from Wednesday, as Petri’s duties end today. “As of December 9, 2025, Dr. Luis Alfonso Petri (DNI No. 25.887.111) responsible for Minister of Defense“confirms the text. He also thanks you “the services provided in the exercise of this position.”
At the same time, the regulations make it clear that if Presti remains at the top of the portfolio, he will do so Availability situation as of February 10, 2026already Passive situation since June 10, 2026 “until the completion of a maximum period of two (2) years.”
This peculiarity emerged at the end of November, when the President Javier Milei took part in the saber handover ceremony to members of the armed forces. There they were Peter; the former chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Xavier Isaac -Who was replaced by Marcelo Alejandro Dalle Nogarein the new leadership of the Bundeswehr. That was it too Gustavo Valverde, Who continues to lead them? air force; and the now retired leader of the Argentine Navy, Carlos Allievi. Instead he accepted Juan Carlos Romay.
As expected on this occasion, it was expected that the former Chief of General Staff of the Argentine Army took up his duties after the presentation of the F-16 aircraft.
The new LLA MP announced his resignation this Monday in a letter to the national president. “I am writing to you to announce my resignation from the position of Secretary of Defense of the Nation, effective December 9, 2025. It will be etched in my memory and in my heart that I served as Secretary of Defense during your presidency. It will forever be an honor,” he wrote.
In the text he also addressed his successor. “I thank every officer, non-commissioned officer, soldier and sailor of the three forces for their unwavering commitment to the homeland, to the point that they were ready to give their lives in its defense. The defense portfolio remains in the best hands. I wish my successor, the Lt. Gen. Carlos Presti“The greatest success in deepening the path that we started on December 10, 2023,” he assured.
Regarding the territory he is leaving to Presti, he said: “The country owes it to him.” armed forces Independence and freedom, with the General San Martin, Belgrano and Guemes at the top, along with many others who made up that Armies of the North and the Andes Liberation of half the continent. Saving this glorious past is essential to make this present possible, in which our armed forces have regained the ability to defend Argentina from any foreign threat.”
Petri thanked the trust and listed the main achievements of his government, including the modernization of the armed forces and the integration of the weapons system F-16 and the development of strategic operations in different regions of the country.
“During these two years, we have advanced a historic transformation process. Under his leadership and in accordance with his directives as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, we implemented policies that enabled us to recover critical materiel, modernize doctrine, strengthen training and exercises with allied countries that defend the values of freedom, and advance reforms in the training of our cadets and volunteer soldiers essential to meeting current challenges,” he described.
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