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Gendarmería Nacional
National Gendarmerie

The federal police normally have jurisdiction for maintaining law and order in the federal capital and for federal crimes in the provinces. Other federal police authorities include the airport security police, Gendarmerie, Coast Guard, and Bureau of Prisons. All federal police forces fall under the authority of the Security Ministry. Each province and the city of Buenos Aires also has its own police force that responds to a provincial (or city) security ministry or secretariat. Individual forces varied considerably in their effectiveness and respect for human rights.

During the Presidency of Dr. Roberto M Ortiz, Argentina national gendarmerie was created on 28 July of the year 1938 by the National Congress, due to a real public need, aimed at consolidating the international border and ensure the security of settlers and residents in regions remote from the country; starting to settle in the "national territories" as a border guard.

The peculiarities of the territory where should fulfill the mission and character of this, determined that the force was born as a body with organization, military training and strict discipline, circumstances that, to date, remains.

That is the genesis of this creation and the spirit that legislators printed in the project which was later promulgated as law No. 12.367: "contribute decisively to maintain national identity in neighbouring areas, to preserve the national territory and the inviolability of the international boundary".

The staff was subjected to a military disciplinary regime, with structure, training, military doctrine and legal training that would allow them to perform police functions in time of peace and in time of war the military land component integrate: case, was participation in the Falklands war in 1982.

The institution is framed within the organic law Nº 19.349 which regulates its organization, mission, functions, jurisdiction and powers, as the legal regime of its staff.

While no known active insurgency exists in Argentina at present, the experience in the northern province of Salta in 1964 is indicative of what may happen. This incident involved a group of Castro Communists who attempted to establish operations in Salta. The guerrillas were well armed and offered strong resistance when encountered by the Gendarmeria who completely neutralized the subversive group, although one gendarme was killed in the action.

In 1985 the armed forces were divided into three services, the Argentine Army (Ejército Argentino), the Argentine Navy (Armada Argentina), and the Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina). After the Alfonsin administration assumed office in 1983, plans were implemented to place the nation's two paramilitary forces, the National Gendarmerie and the Argentine Naval Prefecture, under the immediate command and authority of the Ministry of Defense. The Argentine Army commanded the gendarmerie until July 1984. The navy's authority over the prefecture remained in effect until October 1984. According to the proposed reorganization, two of Argentina's paramilitary forces, the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerla Nacional) and the Argentine Naval Prefecture (Prefectura Naval Argentina), fell under the direct authority of the Ministry of Defense. In fact, they were moved to the Ministry of Security.

The combined size of the forces in the early 1980s was estimated at over 20,000. In 1983 the size of the gendarmerie was estimated at 11,000 to 12,000. The principal mission of the force was that of a border guard, responsible for protecting and patrolling Argentina's territorial frontiers with Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay. The personnel of the gendarmerie were all volunteers and were organized into agrupaciones, described as a level of command between a battalion and a regiment. These formations were in turn subdivided into squadrons, groups, and sections. The three regional commands of the force were headquartered at Rosario, Córdoba, and Bahia Blanca.

In the early 1980s a special unit of the gendarmerie — based at the Campo de Mayo army barracks — was prepared for deployment to the Middle East as part of the UN peacekeeping force in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Although the military government decided not to participate in the force, there was speculation in early 1982 that the unit might be sent instead to flight in Central America. Before the South Atlantic War intervened, at least 20 to 30 Argentine Army advisers were training regular personnel from the Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Honduran armed forces and were providing logistical and economic support to the members of the Nicaraguan Democratic Force, the major counter-revolutionary army fighting against the Nicaraguan government.

The major pieces of equipment belonging to the gendarmerie were armored cars and armored personnel carriers, including the M-113s and Rolands, models that were also used by army personnel. The small air wing operated by the gendarmerie was composed of an estimated 20 light aircraft and several helicopters.

The 9,000-strong [as of 1985] Argentine Naval Prefecture served as a coastal guard and patrol force. Its mission included interdicting contraband, protecting maritime resources within Argentina's 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and carrying out search-and-rescue missions at sea. The prefecture was also charged with the regulation of the national ports and with the maintenance of navigational aids.

The prefecture's newest equipment included five Spanish-built Halcon-class corvettes that were acquired in the early 1980s, armed with 40mm guns, and used for ocean patrols. The other four large, oceangoing patrol craft were aging vessels that were previously in service with the Argentine Navy. The principal patrol craft used by the prefecture were 17 German-built Z-28-class boats. Some were armed with 20mm guns and were used in the South Atlantic War, during which three were lost. In addition to a tug and a sail training craft, there were also several 95-foot vessels used as coast guard cutters and over a dozen more small patrol craft. The prefecture also operated a small air fleet composed of five fixed-wing transports and nine helicopters.

Multiple human rights organizations in November 2011, discovered the plan of infiltration of GN called "Project X". It sponsored the workers of Kraft and PepsiCo. In 2009 they began spying on the Kraft factory workers fighting for better conditions of health and the defense of their jobs. Myriam Bregman, an attorney Professional Center for Human Rights and Buenosairean deputy for the Left Front, together with a group of persons and other organizations, filed a complaint against the National Gendarmerie, havingfound that this force conducted intelligence and espionage on activists and members of trade associations, student, political and Human Rights groups.

The National Personal Data Act prohibits the collection of data called "sensitive", including political affiliation. The existence of a data program called "Project X" was even recognized by the former head of the force, Hector Schenone.

As demonstrated with the X Project under the Kirchners, the state and its repressive forces infiltrate popular assemblies and demonstrations to mark the workers and gather information illegally, then it is used by the Justice against them. The use of espionage by the state against workers and popular sectors for large employers is not new.

Security forces report to civilian authorities but occasionally act at lower levels independently of civilian control and committed human rights abuses. In late August 2013, as a measure to combat growing insecurity, Security Minister Arturo Puricelli dispatched 5,000 additional Gendarmerie officers to assume urban policing duties in the province of Buenos Aires. In order to avoid leaving the borders unprotected, the army agreed to send soldiers to cooperate with the Gendarmerie in the border area with Brazil and Uruguay.

On 30 May 2016 President Mauricio Macri announced a "real increase of 9%" over the wage guidelines agreed for this year for the agents of the National Gendarmerie and the Naval Prefecture. In turn two items would change in the salary scale of both forces representing an average 55% increase in salaries of retired prefects and gendarmes. The measure will be effective with a presidential decree and take effect from June. According to the government, the idea is to "simplify the payroll" of these repressive forces and "substantially increase revenues to retirees and pensioners and even the assets with the rest of the security forces". This was announced by the government agency Telam. It was also reported that the decision is part of a comprehensive plan to standardize (in the course of a few years) pay scales Gendarmerie Prefecture, Federal Police and Airport Security Police.