Buenos Aires, January 26, 2026 – Total News Agency (TNA) – Lately, the Secretariat of Intelligence has stood out not for its successes but, on the contrary, for reforms and counter-reforms instead of intelligence and counterintelligence. Far from consolidating strategic capabilities, the agency is going through a stage marked by erratic decisions, administrative back-and-forth, and a worrying lack of operational criteria, which again call into question its leadership and internal functioning. SIDE at war: A supposed summary that shakes the circle of a poorly medicated Santiago Caputo. As in previous episodes, information began to emerge from within the system, and it is not ruled out that more data will continue to appear that deepen the crisis. Once again, the Secretariat of Intelligence is under public scrutiny not for anticipating threats or protecting strategic interests, but for its own errors that erode its credibility, its operation, and the security of the State. When the State does not manage these disconnections properly, it is exposed to leaks, resentments, and collateral damage that can directly impact the intelligence system. The lack of payment of basic salaries and legal compensation reveals deficient administrative management and an alarming absence of foresight, especially serious in an agency that handles sensitive State information. The Government sent to the Congress the DNU that expands the powers of the SIDE and the opposition seeks the votes to annul it. Specialists in the area agree that an intelligence agency, when it decides to dispense with personnel, must do so in the most meticulous and careful way possible. The leadership appears more associated with accessory issues and inexplicable administrative decisions than with a comprehensive strategy of intelligence and counterintelligence. Announcements of profound reforms were quickly deactivated, areas created without planning were dismantled, and the promised changes ended up being simple bureaucratic reaccommodations, with no real impact on the production of intelligence or the State's counterintelligence. The increase in spending on intelligence, in contrast to health and education, reopens the debate on priorities and capabilities in Argentina. In this context of institutional disorder, a new and delicate episode arises that worsens the picture. If from the political discourse foreign services, such as those of Israel, are admired, well-deserved, they say, the logical path would be to study them, adapt them, and replicate their basic structures, instead of accumulating failed reforms. Meanwhile, discontent is growing within the agency. The opposite—disorderly firings and without compliance with basic obligations—not only is offensive to the personnel, but also opens the door to serious risks for institutional security. The problem is not minor: agents from different areas possess knowledge, contacts, and accumulated experience. Instead of trying improvised reforms and then retracing the path, sources consulted point out, it would be enough to adopt proven models and adapt them on a scale. The tradition in professional services indicates that exits must be orderly, discreet, and with clear administrative closures, except in cases of proven crimes, and even then, justice must act with secrecy to not expose state secrets. Paradoxically, the lack of “intelligence” in internal management ends up weakening national intelligence, even though it is being monitored. In some friendly country agency, a historical maxim is often heard: “the simple also promises success.” The measure affected hierarchical personnel, analysts, administrative staff, and security personnel. Without judging the motives for the layoffs, the relevant thing is that, more than a month after they occurred, the dismissed agents would not have received their last salary, nor the bonus, nor the unused vacation, nor the compensations that could correspond according to each contractual situation. SIDE without “control”*: the background of the attempted “coup” by Undersecretary Lago Rodríguez against the “Lord 5”. The situation affects some 130 men and women who until a few days before were part of the operational heart of the intelligence system. The TNA scoop on the trip of spies to Baku. As Total News Agency has been pointing out in previous cables, the SIDE has been more devoted to failed structural redesigns than to strengthening its essential functions. On December 5, 2025, the agency ordered the disconnection of approximately 130 agents belonging to different sensitive areas.
