Jorge Taiana: “The world is moving towards multilateralism”

“The end of the cold war also determined the beginning of the end of the bipolar power. The hegemony of the United States in the region will definitely give way to a multilateral scenario,” said Jorge Taiana at the beginning of the lecture that, under the format of a master class, he shared with the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the FFAA, Lieutenant General Martín Paleo and the National Director of Planning and Strategy Luciano Anzelini.

Always within the international military analysis Taiana stated: “Regional associations with different degrees of power are beginning to be seen. Proof of this are both the Shanghai group and the group that make up the USA, Great Britain and Australia or the Indo-Pacific group. There are no hegemonic powers that accumulate power that has changed. The way in which power is built is no longer the same.”

Under the watchful eye of the country's highest military authorities and representatives of foreign armed forces with whom Argentina maintains academic exchange of attending officers, the former foreign minister and current holder of the Defence portfolio expressed himself as an enthusiastic advocate of regional integration in military matters.

“It is essential to integrate regionally in order to have weight in the negotiations and to be heard in the world, and we must also advance internal integration since Argentina has limitations in the integration of its territory, we must advance in the integration of Tierra del Fuego,” emphasized the official.

Clearing doubts

Addressing issues of an internal nature and that are relevant to the future of the national defence system, Taiana focused on issues such as the radarization of the national territory, the incorporation of at least 10,000 volunteer soldiers among the three armed forces, the adequate increase of the capacities and operations of the forces and recovery of the submarine capacity of the Argentine Navy.

“Our idea is to incorporate 10,000 more troops as volunteer troops and to do so with residents in the different areas where their services are needed, which will result in greater efficiency in service since we will have men and women who will know the field of operations thoroughly,” said the minister.

The Minister of Defense also gave himself time to clarify that there are still no definitions as to which military power supersonic fighters will be purchased for the FAA. The clarification made special sense after the versions that gave China as a safe tenderer increased.

In the same vein, when referring to wheeled vehicles (8x8) for the Argentine Army, Taiana made it clear that she is inclined to the Brazilian offer. The need for a logistics vessel with tasks that will exceed support for the Antarctic campaigns was present in the minister's presentation as well as the importance of FONDEF (Defence Fund).

The Falklands question

In several passages of his speech Taiana referred to the 40 years of the Malvinas War. Making it clear that the definitive integration of the islands into the heritage of the Nation will not take place by military but by diplomatic means.

Lieutenant General Martín Paleo, in turn, made it clear that, as a strategic head of military planning, although he does not plan offensive military action, he cannot fall into the ingenuity of not considering defensive plans based on the presence of a great military power in the Malvinas that does not hesitate to carry out constant exercises military personnel in the region.

Cyber defense

While the Minister of Defense was extremely cautious in avoiding specific reference to Russia's invasion of the territory of Ukraine, he did allow himself to express his concern about the increasing presence of cyberattacks as part of the military operations of different powers. In this regard, he said, “the importance of strengthening cyber defense for the protection of our communications.” “Argentina needs Armed Forces that are trained, enlisted and able to defend the country against an external state threat,” he added.

Jorge Taiana with Infobae

At the end of the presentation of Taiana and her collaborators, the Minister of Defense held an exclusive meeting with Infobae.

- Do you think that there is a need for legislation at the national level to guarantee a genuine State policy in the area of defence?

- There are several laws that are pending, it is very important to have a new law on military personnel. Much progress has been made in this regard in a project involving several sectors and experts from different political signs.

It is necessary to plan legislation that can first be passed and then enforced. I think it is more important to define well the political will of society to recover the Armed Forces as an instrument of defense that must have a certain capacity.

- He referred to the recovery of submarine capacity and this implies a heavy investment that will cross several steps. How far do you aim to go during your administration?

- The first thing we must achieve is to strengthen awareness in Argentine society and in the industrial, political and journalistic sectors so that the strategic importance of underwater power is understood, which is something that is not seen. The second stage is to work on the realization that will surely take a couple of years. We have to try to put it on track with the conviction that it is a priority.

- From the war situation known to all, society begins to talk about terms such as Hybrid War and Cyber Defense. How is the country doing in terms of protection against cyberattacks?

- We're developing, and about to close, a security ring inside the defense area. We are going step by step, we have an undersecretariat in this area as well as a specific command within the Joint Chiefs of Staff and much remains to be done.

- We are about to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Falklands feast, where were you that April 2, 1982?

- I lived it in a particular way in two ways. I was in Patagonia where the conflict was most intense, specifically I was imprisoned in Rawson prison at the disposal of the Executive Branch, and at that time I had two convictions. The first is that the British would indeed come to recover them (some argued that they would not). Despite the confinement and the particularity of my situation, I had the wish that Argentines would do our best while still thinking that a national cause was being misused to achieve a much lower hierarchy goal.

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