The Argentine government decided to expand its budget and allocate funds to different areas of the State on the same night when a police hunt took place near Congress. One of the benefited areas was the Intelligence Secretariat, which will see its resources increased by 7,366 million pesos, 1,655 million of which are earmarked for confidential expenses, a allocation that is also included in the Security budget.
The annex of the decree published in the Official Bulletin details the destination of the funds assigned discretely to the State Intelligence Secretariat. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Security will receive credits that include 1,625,000,000 for confidential expenses, among other allocations destined for the SIDE, an area that falls under the orbit of presidential advisor Santiago Caputo. In total, the budget expansion for this portfolio will be 8,860,129,402 pesos, with an additional sum of more than 200 million allocated to confidential expenses.
Amid this decision, Myriam Bregman, a leader of the Left Front, criticized that in a context like that of Bahía Blanca, where the police hunt was taking place, the funds were allocated to espionage instead of addressing other more urgent needs. Bregman called the government a "sect that has lost social connection."
The Official Bulletin does not mention intelligence issues in its considerations, except in a reference to the reinforcement of the National Security Ministry's budget for activities of supervision, monitoring, and electronic tracking of processed and/or convicted persons.
Confidential expenses are funds allocated for intelligence activities whose specific use is not made public for national security reasons and are subject to oversight by the Bicameral Commission for Oversight of Intelligence Agencies and Activities of Congress. The increase in allocated funds occurred through a decree signed by Javier Milei and published in the Official Bulletin.
