Ministry of Defense (Argentina)

The Ministry of Defense of Argentina is a ministry of the national executive power that deals with everything related to the country national defense. It currently works at the Libertador Building, at Paseo Colón 250, Buenos Aires.

As of December 2010 the minister of Defense is Arturo Puricelli.

History
Traditionally the minister of Defense, as the Joint chiefs of Staff ( Estado Mayor Conjunto ) which traces back its origin to 1948 had a minor role in all armed forces activities relegating key decisions to the respectives chiefs of staff

A great change came into effect on June 12, 2006 when President Néstor Kirchner brought into force the Defence Law, which had been passed in 1988 as a means to modernize the doctrine of the armed forces and define their role, though successive governments had failed to put it into effect.

The law states that the armed forces will only be used against foreign aggression, and reduces the powers of the heads of the armed services, centralizing whole operational and acquisitions decisions under the authority of the minister of Defense through the Armed Forces Joint General Staff emphasizing Jointness

Structure

 * Estado Mayor Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas (EMC) : Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces
 * Secretaría de Estrategia y Asuntos Militares : Strategy and Military Affairs Secretary
 * Secretaría de Planeamiento : Planning Secretary
 * Secretaría de Asuntos Internacionales de la Defensa : Defense Foreign Affairs Secretary
 * Dirección Nacional de Inteligencia Estratégica Militar : National Directory for Military Intelligence
 * Dirección Nacional de Derechos Humanos y el Derecho Internacional Humanitario : National Directory for Human Rights
 * CITEDEF ( former CITEFA )
 * Industrial Complex: ( FMA, Fabricaciones Militares, Tandanor/Domecq Garcia )

Budget
Usd$3 Billion (2011)