BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 9, 2025 — The abrupt resignation of the Undersecretary of Cyber Defense, Colonel (Ret.) Engineer Marcelo Adrián Ozán, has deepened the crisis open in the Ministry of Defense due to administrative complaints linked to the sale of the Joint Cyber Defense Command (CCCD) property and alleged irregularities in tenders for critical equipment, works, and training systems. The PIA is investigating whether certain companies were favored, if there were overprices, and if transparency rules were violated in a particularly sensitive sector. The administrative crisis coincides with a deterioration in commitments made to the United States regarding cyber defense. The Government has not yet announced a replacement, while expectations grow to learn if the State Department will send a new advisor or temporarily freeze technical assistance. Diplomatically, inaction erodes trust and casts doubt on the local capacity to sustain long-term cooperation. Ozán's resignation is seen as a symptom of a structure facing cross-questioning: administrative suspicions, internal tensions in Defense, and external alerts about the stagnation in the bilateral cybersecurity agenda. Until then, he had been serving as an advisor to the undersecretariat, a body that depends on the Secretariat of Strategy and Military Affairs, led by Marcelo Rozas Garay, and maintains functional control over the CCCD, under the command of Brigadier General Luis Guimpel. The resignation, accepted by Minister Luis Petri on Dec. 1, came just 19 days after his official designation, a period that exposes the growing institutional pressure on a key area for national security. Decree 795/2025 had been published on Nov. 12 with retroactive effect as of Sept. 15, although in practice Ozán held the office from the date of the Official Gazette. For Washington, compliance with the PAP is a requirement to share high-level intelligence, transfer sensitive technology, and co-finance modernization projects. The PIA sent questionnaires to the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brigadier Xavier Isaac, and to the commander of the CCCD himself to evaluate the decisions made, the potential deterioration of capabilities, and the strategic impact of dismantling the current facility. The second complaint points to alleged irregularities in tenders for USD 21.8 million for the purchase of equipment, building adaptations, and a training simulator. On September 1, the mission in Argentina of the U.S. advisor designated by the State Department to develop and monitor the Country Action Plan (PAP) concluded. This document articulates the National Cybersecurity Strategy with standards for military interoperability, workforce development, operational resilience, and protection of critical systems. That plan, signed in 2024 by Petri and Guimpel in the presence of Ambassador Marc Stanley, is considered an essential instrument to consolidate strategic alignment with Washington. However, technical sources in the area confirmed that the Secretariat of Strategy and Military Affairs did not distribute the PAP among the main military commands —Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army, Navy, and Air Force—, an omission that would have stalled its implementation. All came under scrutiny after the Administrative Investigations Prosecutor's Office (PIA) opened two files with codes KLGZ-246 and EEVY-5. The first complaint warns of alleged omissions of official duties, anomalies in procedures, and the lack of a transition plan regarding the alienation of the CCCD property, located in Puerto Madero, one of the country's highest-value real estate segments. For a country advancing in the modernization of military capabilities and needing to rebuild credibility in digital defense, the void in the undersecretariat appears as an additional risk in an area where delays are costly. In the latest assessment, conducted on August 22, the U.S. advisor Gus Santiago found that the cyber maturity level remained at the same value as a year prior: 2.6 on the adopted scale, a clear sign that objectives had not advanced beyond initial formulations. The lack of progress threatens critical areas: the protection of advanced avionics systems, the shielding of data networks, the security of the operational software of the new F-16 fighter jets, and the response capability against complex intrusions. The auction, carried out for USD 34 million and won by the Madero 6 trust under the framework of Decree 950/2024, obliges the relocation of the operational structure in charge of protecting the critical digital infrastructure of the defense system. According to the presentation, these awards would have been directed to pre-selected providers through the use of 'military secrecy,' a figure that prevents reference values from being verified and limits cross-checks.
