By blurring the lines between military and civilian spheres, the government of Javier Milei's Decree 58/2026, published in the Official Gazette this Thursday, January 29, authorizes military personnel to hold non-elective public office and amends the regulations of the Law for Military Personnel.
In the face of this significant move, human rights organizations and critical sectors warn that this type of decision erodes one of the pillars of the democratic system: the strict subordination of the Armed Forces to civilian power and their exclusion from public administration.
The national government authorized the permanent staff of the Argentine Army to hold non-elective public positions through Decree 58/2026, published this Thursday, January 29, in the Official Gazette. This measure once again strains the consensus built after the last civic-military dictatorship regarding the separation of military and civilian functions.
In its grounds, the government argues that it was "incongruous for military personnel to have their professional development expectations affected" when appointed to state positions, and uses this argument to justify the reform of the current regime.
In the face of this significant move, human rights organizations and critical sectors warn that this type of decision erodes one of the pillars of the democratic system: the strict subordination of the Armed Forces to civilian power and their exclusion from public administration.
The decree also redefines what is understood as "effective service" and incorporates a new clause establishing that military personnel appointed "to any position within the Ministry of Defense" will remain under the military regime, with specific exceptions for the highest ranks.
Thus, the norm amends the regulations of Law No. 19.101 on Military Personnel and establishes that the military may occupy public functions when appointed by the National Executive Branch or other authorities, with the approval of the Army General Staff.
The new Article 18 of the regulation states that "permanent personnel may hold public, non-elective functions," either by direct appointment from the Executive Branch or "by other authorities, prior authorization from the Chief of the Army General Staff."
Although the decree is presented as an administrative adjustment, its political scope is greater: it formally expands the presence of the military in state areas beyond strictly military functions, in a context where the Milei government repeatedly seeks to establish a narrative of reviewing and flexing norms sanctioned after the return to democracy.
In this way, an expansion of functions is consolidated that dilutes the limits established after 1983.
The decree came into force on the day of its publication, and from a political-legal perspective, it cannot be read in isolation or as a mere administrative adjustment.
The norm alters the spirit of the laws passed in the post-dictatorship era—particularly those of National Defense and Internal Security—which established a sharp division between the military and civilian spheres as an institutional guarantee against past abuses.
By enabling active-duty military personnel to hold public office, the Executive Branch not only arbitrarily expands its margins for appointment but also reintroduces the Armed Forces into state decision-making spaces that the democratic order deliberately sought to bar them from.
The measure is set in a context where the Milei government repeatedly seeks to establish a narrative of reviewing and flexing norms sanctioned after the return to democracy.
In this framework, the intervention of the Army General Staff as an authorizing body reinforces a corporate logic that strains the principle of civilian control and weakens the consensus built since 1983.
