President Javier Milei has formally requested the Senate to approve the promotion of 15 lieutenant colonels whose advancements were blocked by the administration of Cristina Kirchner due to their family connections to individuals convicted of crimes against humanity during Argentina’s last military dictatorship.

Most of these cases date back to 2010, and Milei’s decision, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, aims to rectify what his administration considers a historical injustice. These officers, now retired, would be recognized with the rank of colonel, effective retroactively from December 31, 2018.

Ending a Controversial Policy

“This injustice is finally coming to an end. These military officers were punished simply because of their last names, accused of being guilty by association due to their parents or uncles,” government sources told Infobae. The criticism is directed at former Defense Minister Nilda Garré, who, under Kirchnerism, granted human rights organizations veto power over military promotions, effectively blocking individuals from advancing based on their family background.

A letter signed by President Milei and Defense Minister Luis Petri, dated Tuesday, formally requests Senate approval for the promotions under Article 99, Clause 13 of the National Constitution. The officers included in the request are:

• Guillermo Alejandro Saá, Jorge Luis Toccalino, Ricardo Horacio Muñoz, Ramón Centeno de la Vega, Francisco Javier Canevaro, Marcelo Ramón Borzone, Mario Alejandro Díaz, Justo Rojas Alcorta, Edgardo Calvi, Gustavo Cattáneo, Julio Balloffet, Oscar Faisal, Marcelo Huergo, Pedro Tagni, and Antonio Agustín Duarte.

The letter emphasizes that these officers met all legal requirements for promotion at the time of their initial proposals, aligning with Military Personnel Law No. 19.101 and its amendments. This decision reverses a Kirchner-era policy that was also left unchanged under both Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández’s governments.

A Broader Shift in Military Policy

This move follows a similar decision made in late December when the Milei administration requested Senate approval for the promotion of six Argentine Navy captains—Marcelo Barbich, Gustavo Barreto Neuendorf, Juan José Lucena, Eduardo Enrique Pizzagalli, Jorge Emilio Sciurano, and James Ronald Whamond.

Sources from the Casa Rosada confirmed that if approved, the promotions for both Army and Navy officers will be retroactively recognized from the end of 2018, as all candidates meet the required legal conditions.

When the first wave of promotions was announced in late 2024, the government stressed that an internal review by the former Secretariat of Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism found no records linking these officers to human rights violations or crimes against the constitutional order.

A Long-Awaited Correction

During the Macri administration, Defense Minister Oscar Aguad had already initiated efforts to overturn the Kirchner-era policy that had blocked these promotions. “This is a correction of a past injustice—excluding members of the Armed Forces simply because of their last name was a clear example of the previous government’s populism, which prioritized political appearances over fairness,” Aguad had stated at the time.

With this latest decision, Milei’s administration continues its efforts to depoliticize military promotions, reaffirming merit-based advancement within Argentina’s Armed Forces.