Argentine Intelligence - History

History

The Secretariat of Intelligence was created in 1946 when Juan Perón's first presidency established it by Executive Decree 337/46 under the denomination of Coordinación de Informaciones de Estado (State Intelligence Coordination, CIDE). Its mission was to act as a national intelligence agency to be run by civilian personnel and to handle foreign and domestic intelligence operations for the federal government.

Before CIDE was established, national intelligence was jointly handled by the División de Informaciones (Information Division, DI) of the Presidency, and the military intelligence services such as the Servicio de Inteligencia del Ejército (Army Intelligence Service, SIE) and the Servicio de Inteligencia Naval (Naval Intelligence Service, SIN). Even though throughout Argentina's history military intelligence organs have been involved in handling both internal and external intelligence, reforms enacted in the last few decades have legally given them a role alongside civilian managed services in the National Intelligence System.

The Secretariat (as it is commonly referred) had its first structural and functional reform in 1956, under the Pedro Aramburu government when by Executive Decree 776/56 of January 20, CIDE adopted the name Secretaría de Informaciones de Estado (Secretariat of State Information), and the subsequent famous acronym "SIDE". The newly restructured agency was closely modeled on the British intelligence system.

During Juan Carlos Onganía's government, SIDE was under the administration of Gral. Señorans, one of the most well regarded Secretaries of Intelligence of all time. During those years, SIDE started to orchestrate its first complex foreign espionage missions, the staff was increased substantially to about 1,200, and the knowledge and operational capabilities were dramatically improved.

During Señorans administration, many Argentine women began participating in what was then a male-only field. The Secretariat began appreciating certain advantages of the female sex, especially when operations required the exploitation of human weaknesses. However, in 1966, Señorans restructured the Secretariat, expelling 900 employees (of about 1,200 total), including all of the female intelligence operatives contracted at the time. It has been noted that Señorans had a phobia of females, and would not tolerate women working in administrative positions.

In that same year, a failed kidnapping attempt of the Soviet Consul in Buenos Aires, led the USSR to enact a formal protest, threatening to take the matters to international organizations. Onganía, against his will, had no other choice but to ask Señorans to resign, the Secretary in his final statement exposed that "Consul Petrov commands a group of spies of the KGB in Argentina".

After Señorans departure, women regained their positions in the civil intelligence community, but it was at that time, with the onset of the Cold War, that the CIA began taking special interest in SIDE. The growth of communist groups and guerrillas in Latin America, backed by Fidel Castro's regime, as well as the special interest the Soviet Union began to take in Latin America, made the American intelligence community influence what was then thought as an area of minor concern to American interests in the war. The Secretariat of Intelligence was no exception, the 'communist problem' was made a priority, and surveillance of foreign embassies and delegations of communist countries became common.

Secret law Nº 20.195/73 came into effect on February 28, 1973 during the government of Gral. Lanusse, literally establishing the mission, functions, personnel, and other important aspects of the agency; it is also known as the secret decree Nº 1.792/73, dated March 9, 1973.

During the de facto government of Jorge Rafael Videla, on May 13, 1976, by Executive Decree 416 it adopted the name Secretaría de Inteligencia de Estado. Under the National Reorganization Process, SIDE transformed itself into a secret police conducting espionage on guerrilla organizations, labor unions, or any other organization or person considered subversive, or a supporter of subversive activities. SIDE also took part in coordinating Operation Condor with other Latin American intelligence services.

After the return of democracy in 1983, during Raúl Alfonsín's government, SIDE began to renew its staff, and to become a civilian intelligence agency who would entirely focus its activities on national interests. In December 2001, the Intelligence Reform Law was approved, changing the structure, denomination and functions to adapt it to the new National Intelligence System.

On February 2001, during the Fernando de la Rúa government, SIDE was suffering from budget cuts (reduced by half) and political pressure to renew itself. The staff was reduced by half, 1,300 personnel were laid off. One of the reasons given for the clean-up were that many staff members had been involved in human rights violations during the National Reorganization Process. This restructuring included laying off personnel who were past their retiring age according to the agency's standards, and removing most of the personnel from the return to democracy under the Alfonsín administration.

During October 2003, under Néstor Kirchner's government, a crackdown on illegal phone taps, as well as political and ideological espionage was ordered to Secretary of Intelligence Sergio Acevedo. More than 160 personnel were expelled from the organisation for violations of regulations. An integral security review was also conducted, later producing a report which stated several security holes and cases of corruption and theft in the organisation (i.e., theft of food, extraction of gasoline from cars and poor security at facilities.).