Milei Overhauls Argentina’s Intelligence by Decree, Grants Detention Powers

Overview

• An emergency decree restructures the State Intelligence Secretariat and designates its operations as secret and covert.
• The measure authorizes intelligence personnel to detain individuals during operations or in flagrante and mandates immediate notification to police and security forces.
• Counterintelligence duties now cover infiltration, information leaks, espionage, attacks on the constitutional order, sabotage, and foreign interference.
• The decree creates a National Cybersecurity Center under the Cabinet as a decentralized body of the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretariat to protect critical infrastructure and state digital assets.
• Opposition blocs warn of a drift toward a secret police, plan to seek annulment in Congress, and the intelligence oversight commission has requested explanations from the Executive.