The swearing-in of the new Minister of Defense had a figure who was less noticed in the formal act but who concentrates a good part of the political signals of the change: Guillermo Madero. Confirmed as chief of staff of the new minister Carlos Alberto PrestiMadero reaches the heart of the Ministry with a previous tour that makes him a key piece to read the direction that the area will take in the management of Javier Milei.
His name is not new in the military circuit, it comes from Presti’s team and leaves behind a trail of decisions and gestures that place him at the center of controversies linked to the policies of Memory, Truth and Justice. According to the newspaper Página/12, Madero was one of the officials who, during the previous administration, obstructed requests for information from the National Commission for the Right to Identity (CONADI), visited Unit 34 of Campo de Mayo—where convicted repressors are housed—and celebrated the closure of the Documentary Survey and Analysis Teams, which provided key evidence to the judicial cases for crimes against humanity.
In this context, Madero appears as a political guarantor of an already known line. Not only did he accompany Presti at the swearing-in ceremony, but he was seen having a relaxed conversation with the United States ambassador, Peter Lamelassent from donald trumpwith whom he had already met days before at the end of the year toast of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Argentina. He also maintains a close link with the daily functioning of the ministry: his wife, the lawyer Veronica Beltraminoserved as legal advisor in the Undersecretariat of Civil Defense.
The weight of his figure is also projected on the rest of the designations. Presti’s cabinet will be dominated by uniformed personnel: four of the six main positions will be in the hands of military personnel. The Secretary of Strategy and Military Affairs will be Alberto Puebla, Presti’s classmate, while General Carlos Martin and the colonel Ariel Mira Peña They will occupy key undersecretaries. Among civilians, in addition to Madero, there will continue Mario Katzenell in the Ministry of Research and Production for Defense.
For this reason, Madero’s appointment takes on greater weight within the framework of the cabinet that Presti put together. Although the new minister joined the Army in democracy, his family history is marked by dictatorship: he is the son of Roque Presti, head of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Regiment of La Plata during State terrorism, responsible for Area 113, where clandestine centers operated and emblematic kidnappings took place such as those of the Night of the Pencils and the appropriation of Clara Anahí Mariani Teruggi. Regarding these crimes, the current head of the Defense portfolio never spoke publicly.
Another of the most sensitive decisions was the confirmation of the retired lieutenant colonel Daniel Martella at the head of the Secretariat of International Affairs. Martella is the son of Santiago Martella, repressor sentenced to life imprisonment in the La Perla mega-trial. His arrival is part of a logic, that of vindicating the Armed Forces as victims of an alleged “demonization” and relativizing judicial processes for crimes against humanity. In this framework, Madero’s role appears as an articulator of an agenda that exceeds the strictly military.
Particularly sensitive positions still remain vacant, such as the leadership of IOSFA, with a debt that exceeds 200,000 million pesos, and the directorates linked to strategic intelligence and human rights. The recent departure of Joaquin Mogaburu towards the Undersecretary of Human Rights of the Nation reinforces the idea of continuity of the same discursive line, now transferred from the barracks to the national State.
With these maneuvers, the Army gained centrality and feels comfortable in a new scheme. The unknown, sources from the ministry itself point out, is not only how this militarized cabinet will function, but also what role Guillermo Madero will play as a civilian operator of a minister with a military past and present.
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