At some point, all governments run into the same obstacle: SIDE. That state machinery that should prevent conflicts and attend in its resolution becomes a use of problems. The first sign that something is not right is the filtration of information. And in recent weeks, the Ministry of Intelligence did not leaked: it was a strainer.
The last drop was an internal part entitled “Expected facts 09Jul25”, a report that circulated with official letterhead, without signature, and with the aesthetics of a police party. The document, according to Hugo Alconada Mon in the newspaper La Nación, was written by the area that Alejandro Cecati, a former custodian of Mauricio Macri who is in charge of the National Security Agency (ASN), one of the four agencies that make up the 21st century version. Cecati responds to Sergio Neiffert, formal head of the organism, and is seen by his peers as an sponsored by Antonio “Jaime” Stiuso, the ghost that still travels the halls of national intelligence.
The report had no classified data or shocking revelations. It was, apparently, a gain of public activities planned for July 9: meetings of opposition politicians, union acts, social mobilizations, legislative sessions. The usual. The disturbing thing was not what but who. A report thus written by SIDE is immediately linked to illegal intelligence. The retiree Agent of the SIDE, Fernando Pocino, who today settles the informative vice from the social network X, defended the work of the agency: “The situation reports, conflict maps, reports of planned facts or as they are called today, derive from the mission and functions that the law orders to the Secretariat”.
The report mentioned activities of opposition politicians such as Governor Axel Kicillof; the former Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa; Máximo Kirchner deputy, CGT, CTA and other unions, even disability groups. There is not a single mention to official figures. Nor traces of Karina Milei or Sebastián Pareja, who just negotiated alliances with the PRO. A questionable point is that the document seemed more like an opponent’s file than a monitoring of current events.
The National Intelligence Law is clear: it prohibits producing information about people for their militancy, ideology or belonging to political or union groups. The part listed electoral strategies, union claims and citizen protests as if they were latent threats, worthy of being mapped by spies.
One of the data that made the most noise was the mention of a private meeting between Facundo Manes and Néstor Grindetti at the home of the first. That data had already been published by Page/12 a few hours before. So what did the SIDE? Spying or media curatorship? Manes, in doubt, denounced the situation in the Federal Courts of Comodoro Py.
In the SIDE, informally, they defined it as a “press summary.” Other connoisseurs said that, to be an intelligence report, it lacks a coding that is used in that type of papers that is a giant water mark, sometimes red, which gives traceability to the document to possible leaks. Neiffert, the maximum boss, did not speak. Diego Kravetz, the Undersecretary of Intelligence, either. Much less Santiago Caputo, who does not speak. Karina Milei does not get into those issues, she is with the campaign. The filtration showed that state intelligence has fissures that have been peeling for a long time and when that happens it is because there is misgovernment in the dome. Sometimes formal leaders are real. Is Neiffert the true chief of intelligence? Do everyone respond to him?
Business The first comment about Neiffert is that spending a lot of time taking care of its businesses, which are, at least, curious. Not because of the volume -it is not a tycoon -but for the variety. An interest map that mixes bricks, cakes, posters, golf, cleaning and even sports representation. In his affidavit he appears as head of a construction company called New Francos SA, a society that shares with his wife, Silvina de Cenzo, professional pastry. From Cenzo owns a confectionery with an influencer name: sweet spirit, located on Avenida del Libertador, in San Isidro. But his gastronomic career did not stay in the stroke of cakes: today he would be in charge of the organization of food that are sold in the SIDE buildings and in the National Intelligence School. The future agents who do courses in that retirement building are called “the chef.”
The corporate history of Neiffert also links it to the former mayor of Malvinas Argentinas, Jesús Cariglino. In 2008 they founded a company called New Consult, dedicated to the representation of athletes. The data appears in the Official Gazette, although entrepreneurship seems not to have prospered beyond the seal. It is not the only thing: in the INPI, Neiffert also has two own brands registered. One is golfintercolegial – so, all together and without respite – and the other expozonanorte, also with the name of the school fair.
However, if there is a business that interests you especially is that of the posters on public roads. Your company is called posters already, with your own web domain: www.cartelesya.com. The site is registered in your name, and the contact phone that appears on the page appears in the name of your wife. It is one of those companies that move in the universe of road posters, large -format impressions and “urban branding”, competing with large industry like Wall Street by Enrique “Pepe” Albistur. Services for companies, governments and individuals are offered. It does not seem incompatible with its current function, although it is not the type of entrepreneurship that one expects from an intelligence chief.
Junior. In the field of family businesses, another Neiffert appears: Lautaro, the son, who today officiates as private secretary of his father. On February 7, 2024 he founded a firm called Insurance & Protection SRL, oriented to safety and cleaning. An entrepreneurship that aimed to get into the juicy market of outsourced contracts, but that did not take off. Four months later, Sergio Padre was summoned at the head of the SIDE and the plan was frozen. Lautaro, instead of managing alarms and hygiene services, got fully into the state organization chart. Today is his shadow: he accompanies him everywhere, from the offices of Casa Rosada to international visits. In May 2024, for example, he traveled with him to the headquarters of the CIA, in Langley, Virginia, on a tour that had more protocol than content. There also was Santiago Caputo, as head of Neiffert.
State intelligence, which should anticipate conflicts, today seems more focused on mapping opponents than to prevent real risks. The filtered part exposed not only bad practices, but also a dome more concerned with its parallel businesses than to guard secrets. Neiffert, with its family SME of posters and cakes, reflects the disorder of a structure that operates without control or clear direction. When the SIDE does water, the problem is not the filtration: it is the government.
