ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Argentina, Intelligence and SecurityConflict between the military and government factions isendemic. In 1946, the election of President Juan DomingoPeron began a period of authoritarian rule and heightenedtensions between military and civilian forces. A militaryjunta overthrew the government again in 1976. Both regimesemployed civilian and military intelligence agenciesin domestic espionage against Argentinean citizensand persecuted political dissidents. Democratic rule wasrestored in 1983. The new government overhauled governmentstructure, separating civilian and military agenciesinto specialized, relatively autonomous units. In 1992,the government modernized and redesigned the nation’sintelligence system.Argentina’s intelligence community is divided intocivilian and military branches. The civilian intelligencesystem operates under the direction of the executive branchof the government. The keystone of this network is theNational Intelligence Center (CNI). The CNI is responsiblefor gathering information from various intelligence agenciesand coordinating daily operations. In recent years,however, the power of the CNI has greatly diminished.The Office of the State Intelligence Secretary (SIDE) assumedmany CNI duties.SIDE is the oldest Argentinean intelligence agency.Reporting directly to the President, SIDE is charged withculling domestic and foreign intelligence information withwhich to brief members of the executive branch. Theagency also directs the nation’s counterintelligenceprogram.Domestic security was the primary concern ofArgentinean legislators who pushed for intelligence reformin the early 1990s. To this end, passage of the InternalSecurity Law of 1992 created the domestic security service,the National Direction of Internal Intelligence. Theagency, a subsidiary of the Ministry of the Interior, creatednational security policy and coordinates the protection ofnational interests with the aid of intelligence servicesand law enforcement agencies, such as the NationalGendarmerie and Federal Police.Military intelligence is coordinated by the Joint Staffof the Armed Forces, and a subcommittee known as J-2Intelligence. The committee reports to the executive, andlike all military intelligence organizations is subject tocongressional oversight review, but remains largely autonomous.Each branch of the Argentinean military, theAir Force, Army, and Navy, maintains its own intelligenceservices.A car moves along the Extraterrestrial Highway, a roadway that runs along the eastern border of Area 51, a military base on the Nevada test site that the U.S.government has only recently admitted “officially” exists. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.52 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security