The reaction of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) upon the appointment of Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto Presti as Minister of Defense by the government of Javier Milei It was immediate and blunt. The centenary party and the radicalism of La Plata, in particular, denounced that it is “a profound institutional setback” and warned about the risk involved in having an active military officer at the head of a strategic portfolio.
On social networks, the president of the UCR La Plata, Pablo Nicoletti, posted: “I feel an absolute rejection of the appointment of a military man as Minister of Defense.” “The last times that a soldier occupied Defense were the dictatorships of Videla and Violawith massive human rights violations and decisions that almost led us to a war with Chile. Since 1983, no democratic government had crossed that line. Until today,” said the leader, sharing an image of President Milei along with the brand new minister in black and white.
In parallel, the Central Board of the UCR of La Plata issued a statement in which it maintained that “the political leadership of Defense – as well as that of internal security and civil aviation – must be in charge of civil authorities, without exception.” For the radicals, Milei’s decision breaks with a key democratic consensus in force since the return to democracy in 1983, and represents a “serious republican setback” for the country.
One of the most sensitive points for the UCR is Presti’s family background. His father, the colonel Carlos Roque Prestiwas commander of Infantry Regiment 7 of La Plata during the civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983). Human rights organizations in La Plata have identified him as responsible for various serious events: clandestine detention centers in the city such as Area 113, “La Cacha”, Arana and the 5th Police Station operated under his command. Her participation in the operation in which she was kidnapped was also cited. Clara Anahi Marianigranddaughter of Chicha Mariani, one of the founders of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.
Beyond his father’s past, radicalism harshly criticized the fact that Presti Jr. had not expressed “a clear public position on the crimes of the dictatorship or on the accusations against his father”: “an institutionally serious silence,” said Nicoletti and added: “Milei’s appointment is not change: it is a profound institutional setback, especially painful for a city like ours, marked by memory and human rights. An unjustifiable decision with no possible explanation.”
In the movement founded by Leandro N. Alem They warn that this designation is not simply symbolic. They fear that appointing an active military officer to command the Ministry of Defense will undermine the mechanisms of civilian control over the Armed Forces and could favor “discretionary corporatism,” in their own words.
From La Plata radicalism, the conclusion is that Presti’s arrival in the cabinet does not represent progress, but rather an institutional setback that modifies a republican pillar. A civilian primacy over the military that the UCR maintained since the presidential inauguration of Raul Alfonsin, and maintained it over the years in a sensitive context due to the memory of the crimes of State terrorism.
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