At the headquarters of the Official Representation of the Government of Tierra del Fuego in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (Sarmiento 761), the Special Investigating Commission of the provincial Legislature began this Friday the round of testimonies to former officials of the government of Alberto Fernández.  

The first to appear was the former Minister of Defense and current National Deputy, Jorge Enrique Taiana , who arrived promptly at 3:30 p.m. accompanied by a delegation that included his former Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Defense, Dr. Héctor Mazzei ; his press secretary, Milagros Malamud ; his private secretary; and two technical assistants. Throughout the hearing, his team intervened repeatedly to provide dates and details regarding the administrative acts issued between June 2023 and December 10 of that same year.  

"Finding out through the newspapers" and the institutional bypass  

Taiana's statement exposed a structural flaw in the state's sovereign control . The former minister confessed that he only became aware of the existence of the LeoLabs radar in Tolhuin in June 2023, through journalistic publications and investigations that warned about the British origin of the capital and its potential dual-use capabilities.  

Taiana explained that, following the public outcry, he immediately contacted then-Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero, who told him that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also had no record or prior official notification regarding the placement . Given this situation, the former official denounced a blatant violation and a "bypass" of the two ministries responsible for national sovereignty—Defense and Foreign Affairs—by the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications and Connectivity of the Chief of Staff's Office , the same department that in 2022 had issued Provision No. 8/22 granting temporary authorization for frequencies.  

Referring to the signing of said authorization, Taiana questioned the trajectory or capacity of the former Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Mariano Lombardi, whom he described as a "very young" official, with little knowledge and technical experience for such a sensitive area, emphasizing that he was unaware of the channels and patronage through which he came to occupy said position and validate such a resolution.

The absence of protocol and the material inaction

During the hearing, the former minister was asked to clarify why the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense did not proceed with the seizure or forced removal of the radar at the "El Relincho" ranch, once the technical reports from CONAE, INVAP and the Joint Chiefs of Staff conclusively determined that the sensor represented a real threat to national security and violated territorial sovereignty.  

Taiana justified the abstention of the Armed Forces by invoking the current legal framework: he argued that both the National Constitution and the Internal Security Law expressly prohibit military intervention in matters of internal order or security, with the Armed Forces being reserved exclusively for repelling warlike aggressions of external state origin.  

However, when asked two specific follow-up questions about the written protocol and the unified regulatory mechanisms the federal government has in place to authorize or veto the entry of cutting-edge, dual-use technologies into the country, neither Taiana nor his collaborators could provide details or present a regulated procedure . The lack of a clear answer revealed a serious regulatory gap and a severe lack of fiscal oversight in safeguarding the nation's strategic interests, allowing the project to proceed undetected by the government's own regulatory bodies.

Direct responsibility on the Government of Tierra del Fuego  

In at least two passages of his testimony, the former Minister of Defense was emphatic in disclaiming operational responsibility at the local level: he categorically stated that the power, the legal competence and the absolute responsibility to proceed with the disarmament and material removal of the radar fell and still falls on the Government of the Province of Tierra del Fuego .  

Taiana asserted that the administration headed by Governor Gustavo Melella had full institutional authority to carry out the definitive closure and order the physical dismantling of the antennas, noting that if there were the political will to neutralize the danger that the installation represents in terms of sovereignty, the Fuegian Executive could have resolved it within its own jurisdiction.

Political absences in the Tierra del Fuego House Hall

Beyond the testimonial relevance of the day, the opening of the hearings in Buenos Aires displayed a striking political scene due to the absence of several parliamentary blocs.  

The legislators representing the ruling party bloc ( FORJA ) did not attend the hearing, nor did the members of the Justicialist Party (PJ) , Somos Fueguinos, or Green Party blocs.  

The apparent disinterest of these partisan sectors is striking, given that this is a legislative investigation of the highest institutional rank, which is looking into how a subsidiary of a British firm managed to install a military sensor on island territory, evading the sovereign controls of the national and provincial State.

The agenda of the Special Commission in the Federal Capital will continue this Monday, September 21 : at 09:30 it will be the turn of the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Juan Martín Paleo , while at 15:30 the former president of ENACOM, Dr. Gustavo López , will appear.