Security & Strategic Review - January 2026

Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto Presti, who had been serving as the chief of the general staff of Argentina’s army, took office as the new defence minister on 10 December, replacing Luis Petri, who won a seat in the lower chamber of congress in the October 2025 midterm elections. The decision by President Javier Milei to appoint an army general to the role of defence minister has garnered controversy and broken with political tradition. Since the end of Argentina’s military dictatorship (1976-1983), the position of defence minister had been held by civilians, a tradition that sought to separate the armed forces from political decision-making and prevent them from exercising influence over government.