Overview
- President Javier Milei swore in Teniente General Carlos Alberto Presti at the Casa Rosada on December 12, formalizing a role for which he had obtained signing authority the day before.
- Presti is the first active-duty officer to lead Defense from the start of an administration since the dictatorship, taking the oath in uniform and succeeding Luis Petri.
- The reordering returns the Joint Chiefs to Navy leadership with Vicealmirante Marcelo Dalle Nogare at the helm, names General Oscar Santiago Zarich to lead the Army, appoints Vicealmirante Juan Carlos Romay to the Navy, keeps Brigadier Mayor Gustavo Javier Valverde at the Air Force, and moves General Sergio Jurczyszyn to deputy at the Joint Chiefs as Brigadier General Xavier Isaac retires.
- A largely military team is taking shape with General Jorge Alberto Puebla as secretary of Strategies and Military Affairs, retired Teniente Coronel Daniel Enrique Martella in International Affairs, Guillermo Madero as chief adviser, and General Carlos Horacio Martín over logistics, with administration and production posts assigned to Ariel Andrés Mira Peña and Mario Katzenell as further IOSFA leadership decisions remain pending.
- Immediate priorities include stabilizing the indebted IOSFA health insurer serving about 600,000 beneficiaries and addressing low military pay, as political criticism persists over Presti’s choice to remain in uniform under the ‘disponibilidad’ mechanism.