Buenos Aires Herald editorial

What do ex-presidents, soup kitchen cooks, and family members of the lost submarine ARA San Juan crew have in common? All have been illegally surveilled by Argentina’s bloated intelligence apparatus in recent years. 

Milei’s apparent designs for the intelligence services have been ringing alarm bells. The area has been falling under the orbit of Santiago Caputo, the shadowy presidential advisor whose role falls well short of his reach and influence with the libertarian leader. Then, in July, the president decreed that the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE, for its Spanish initials) would be assigned AR$100 billion (over US$100million at the official rate, US$77 million at the MEP rate) in reserved funds, which they can spend without having to justify what the cash went on — this, from a government whose motto has been “there’s no money.”

But this week, those plans were dealt two thundering blows: on Tuesday, control of the congressional commission that has oversight over the intelligence services’ activities went to the opposition. It will be presided over by UCR senator Martín Lousteau, a vocal opponent of Milei since he took office, who has said that intelligence funds are being used to harass journalists. The other leadership roles went to two members of UxP. 

The next day, the Chamber of Deputies voted overwhelmingly to overturn the decree assigning those funds to the services. As always, the decree won’t be overturned unless the Senate also votes it down. Nonetheless, the vote came as a shock. PRO, which has so far voted with the government on most issues, joined forces with the opposition, going so far as to issue a statement declaring that a vast cash infusion for the government’s surveillance apparatus was not the “change” they had in mind.

The votes have also stoked the fiery infighting in the top ranks of government, with Milei accusing Macri of not having his troops in order after PRO also backed a bill to increase pensions.

It’s news to no one that successive Argentine governments have used intelligence services to illegally spy on social movements, trade unions, political rivals, journalists, and many others, which is clearly forbidden in Argentine law.  Article 4 of the National Intelligence Law states that, unless there’s a legal warrant, no intelligence organism can collect information based on a person’s “faith or political opinion” nor reveal information it has learned to influence “institutional, political, or judicial” issues in the country.  

Intelligence services have been involved in some of the most nasty aspects of domestic politics for decades. Hugo Anzorreguy, SIDE director during the Carlos Menem administration (1989-1999) was convicted of a cover-up in the investigation into who committed the AMIA attacks. In 2000, the government of Fernando de la Rúa (1999-2001) was accused of bribing opposition senators to get a law approved in Congress. The people behind the operation? SIDE agents. 

Over the last 10 years, there have been documented cases of spies obtaining confessions and judicial cooperation via extortion. In some cases, journalists have reported stories based on material obtained by the intelligence services via dubious means. Governments on both sides of the divide have fallen over themselves to blame the other party, but the reality is that many Argentines see such activity as an ugly feature of the political landscape, irrespective of who’s in the Casa Rosada.

If these services are now to be overseen by a commission that offers oversight, and to have their exorbitant slush funds cut, that is a welcome development. But it remains insufficient to root out the toxic custom, in Argentine politics, of spying on anyone who seems like a juicy target.