Political Risk:
Moderate
Score:
54/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
67/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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The Parliament has formal powers (according to the National Constitution) to approve or reject laws concerning the jurisdiction of the entire national territory (Art.…
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Congress examines and debates defence policies and attempts to influence them through formal mechanisms, but those attempts are limited. Attempts at influence through the…
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The executive branch and the military do not exercise undue coercion over Parliament in order to obtain votes, or at least that is public…
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Q2
38/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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The Parliament has permanent national defence commissions in both Chambers (also with internal security commissions). In their respective regulations, their functions refer to ruling…
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The composition of the commissions is representative of the political forces that make up the chamber in accordance with the provisions of the regulations.…
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Parliamentary defence committees (as well as internal security) do not examine defence policies and decisions on a temporary basis if a new threat arises.…
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Parliamentary defence commissions do not exercise any short-term supervision over defence policy, as long as they do not have formal powers to modify their…
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The defence commissions have a formal power to carry out investigations, if they so determine, in order to comply with their legislative functions in…
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Although parliamentary committees can make recommendations, both through political dialogue at the time they invite officials to report on different aspects of security and…
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Q3
38/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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The defence policy or security strategy is subject to debate and includes the participation of the media. However, the debate is irregular and does…
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The discussion on defence policy is rather restricted and takes place around crucial issues. Although there is an academic community on the subject, it…
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There has been no process of formal consultations on defence policy or on security strategies after those made for the publication of the 2015…
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While there are advances in the regulation regarding the publicity and transparency of State bodies, including the Ministries of Defence and Security, not all…
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Q4
67/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is no evidence of the existence of a specific policy that requires openness to CSOs in the defence sector, but it is not…
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CSOs in Argentina have general protections against government interference and can operate openly. However, they may not be able to fully access sensitive areas.…
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In Argentina there are few CSOs directly involved with defence and security policies. An example is the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS),…
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Q5
75/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Argentina is not characterised as an active exporter of defence material. Argentina has signed and ratified the following international agreements: Inter-American Convention Against Corruption…
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Argentina is making progress on compliance with the Conventions of the OAS and the UN, while presenting some minor problems regarding the Agreement signed…
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Q6
63/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Beyond the government, there is occasionally a public debate on defence issues among academics, journalists, opinion makers, and CSOs. However, in cases where such…
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The Government has participated in the debate on defence issues, especially during 2017 and 2018, mainly through the media, including television programmes, radio, and…
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Q7
63/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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There is an open policy to fight corruption that cross-cuts all State agencies. The newly launched 2019-2023 Anti-Corruption Plan, established by Presidential Decree No.…
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The National Anti-Corruption Plan 2019-2023 cross-cuts all Ministries, but it is not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of its application. However, the Ministry of…
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Q8
75/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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There are units responsible for promoting transparency in defence institutions, both within the Ministry of Defence and the Directorate General for Integrity, Transparency, and…
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As part of the ministerial structure, the independence of the General Directorate of Integrity, Transparency, and Institutional Strengthening and the Internal Audit Unit is…
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The personnel in these control units, both internally and externally, understand the risks of corruption, but across public administration. Personnel trainings exist, but they…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. According to the public, corruption is not sufficiently addressed within the existing measures, although…
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Q10
13/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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There is awareness of the risks posed by corruption to the public administration, but evaluations of corruption risks specific to the area of defence…
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There is no evidence on the official website of the Ministry of Defence or in the Secretariat of Institutional Strengthening, [1] which since 2018…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable. There are no specific risk assessments for the defence sector. An anti-corruption policy is postulated through the…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
50/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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Since 2007 there is a planning cycle for the defence area, which is specified in stages and internal functions. However, mechanisms for a procurement…
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The beginning of the planning cycle is public knowledge. This begins with the DPDN (quadrennial) of the national executive branch that is established by…
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Procurement planning supervision occurs within the Ministry of Defence. Although there may be controls by external organisations, such as the AGN or the Anti-Corruption…
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Q12
100/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The defence budget contains extensive and disaggregated information about your spending between different functions. The formulation of the budget in Argentina is an annual…
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The Minister of Finance is the person in charge of presenting to the Congress, in a timely manner, the draft bill of the national…
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Q13
0/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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Although there are defence commissions in both houses of Congress, they lack real powers to scrutinise the defence budget and, although it has the…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable.The Defence Committee does not have any powers or influence over decision-making and budget. These tasks are conducted…
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Q14
83/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The approved defence budget is broken down and made available to the public from 2017 through the “Open Budget” website, as well as in…
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The vast majority of the approved defence budget is disclosed in full through official internet channels. This budget is the one that covers the…
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Following the Law on Access to Public Information, approved in 2016 and regulated in March 2017, mechanisms for both Active Transparency and information request…
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Q15
67/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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The defence budget is accessible through the National Budget Office of the Ministry of Finance and the “Open Budget” platform. There you can know…
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There are scrutiny mechanisms that are administered by a supreme audit institution (SIGEN), and the internal audit office within the Ministry of Defence. However,…
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Public scrutiny focuses on the acquisitions made by the defence jurisdiction rather than on the origin of the funds. [1] [2] In 2017, through…
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Q16
63/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The internal audit unit of the Ministry of Defence, although it starts from that Ministry, is under the coordination of the SIGEN, that is,…
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Congress has the formal powers to scrutinise issues of all kinds, including those that are sensitive and crucial, through the request for reports or…
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Internal audit reports are sometimes made available on the Ministry’s website (only 2016 and 2018 were recently made available). When this happens, external scrutiny…
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Occasionally, the incorporation of the conclusions of the audits can be seen in the media, such as when an internal audit detected unusual expenses…
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Q17
50/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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The AGN’s main function is to supervise the use of state resources, so it has the power to control, if it so decides, because…
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The AGN is independent of the EP. It is an autonomous body of the Congress, but provides technical support to the PL (Joint Parliamentary…
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External audit reports are published sporadically on the AGN website and, if they are made available at all, never in detail [1]. What can…
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There is no publicly available evidence that the Ministry of Defence has addressed any findings produced by the AGN. [1] [2] Therefore this indicator…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
100/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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The country’s defence institutions do not hold controlling or financial interests in businesses related to the exploitation of the country’s natural resources. The Constitution…
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There is no evidence that defence institutions are involved in businesses related to the exploitation of the country’s natural resources. It is observed that…
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There is no evidence from 2016 on in the media, nor in complaints made by the Anti-Corruption Office, regarding people belonging to the defence…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of the existence of financial interests of the institutions of the defence…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable, as there is no evidence of the existence of financial interests of the institutions of the jurisdiction…
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Organised Crime
Q19
63/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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In Argentina, there is a moderate likelihood that the military will be involved in sectors in which organised crime operates, while control of that…
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The Government is aware of the possibility that organised crime will penetrate the defence and security sector. There are mechanisms, such as Resolution 11/2011…
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Q20
0/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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Within the jurisdiction of the Defence, the General Directorate of Integrity, Transparency, and Institutional Strengthening has as its objective the design and implementation of…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable.There is no police power within the defence jurisdiction capable of conducting investigations into corruption and organised crime.…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable.There is no internal unit of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces with the specific task…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
38/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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The National Intelligence Law, passed in 2001, provides that the Supervisory Committee of the Bicameral Intelligence Organisations and Activities (7 Senators and 7 Members…
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Although the Bicameral Commission has extensive oversight functions for intelligence agencies, and is even able to carry out investigations and promote actions at judicial…
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Q22
50/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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There are objective selection criteria in the current regulations of the intelligence area. However, it is not possible to show whether the top positions…
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It is possible that selection processes, still normatively open and transparent, offer biases in the selection of the top positions in intelligence services, where…
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There is Not Enough Information to score this indicator. In relation to a full investigation regarding the suitability of the candidates to fill vacancies…
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Export Controls
Q23
67/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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Argentina signed and ratified the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) in 2014. [1] [2]
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Regarding article 7.1 on the evaluation of exports; article 11.5, on providing information on measures to avoid deviations; and article 15.6, on international cooperation…
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Arms exports are not debated in Congress. It has only been involved in the sanction of the framework laws and in the Disarmament Plan…
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Lobbying in Defence
The country does not have an explicit legal framework that regulates lobbying activities. It only has a record of hearings for officials of the…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable. Argentina does not have a specific legal framework that regulates lobbying activities. The EP has the obligation…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable. Argentina does not have a legal framework that regulates lobbying activities. The country does not yet have…
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This indicator has been scored Not Applicable.The country does not yet have legislation covering everything related to lobbying. There is only the obligation to…
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