Argentina’s president denies new intelligence plan could enable surveillance of journalists and politicians

The office of Argentinian President Javier Milei denied a bombshell series of reports that alleged the country’s intelligence agency had approved a new plan that could enable the surveillance of journalists, politicians and economists.

The office of Argentinian President Javier Milei denied a bombshell series of reports that alleged the country’s intelligence agency had approved a new plan that could enable the surveillance of journalists, politicians and economists. The reporting, by journalist Hugo Alconada Mon in the newspaper La Nación, looked into a leaked national intelligence plan by Argentina’s State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) that he says outlines general intelligence objectives such as preventing terrorism and combating organized crime, but is also filled with “generalizations, gray areas and ambiguities,” the report reads. “For example, the SIDE has the power to gather information on all those who seek to ‘erode’ public confidence in the officials in charge of ensuring the nation’s security,” but it doesn’t specify if it’s referring to foreign agents or experts, journalists and citizens who question actions by the national security minister, Alconada Mon’s article continues. Milei’s office on May 25 confirmed the existence of a new intelligence plan but denied that it would be used for such purposes. Alconada Mon, one of Argentina’s most renowned investigative reporters and deputy editor of La Nación, said he verified the authenticity of the 170-page document with two independent sources. “It’s written in such an ambiguous way that it allows you to apply it correctly or in a disturbing way,” he told CNN.