Five months after taking office,
Javier Milei
was forced to shelve his intention to use commercial flights for his tours. The President intended to set an example of
austerity in the midst of his speech that "there is no money"
and boasted of the savings that not using private flights or the presidential fleet meant for the State coffers. However, everything changed this week, after the conflict in the Middle East escalated and Iran's attack on Israel, one of the strategic allies chosen by the current administration, and a
forceful security report that was presented to the president 13 " vulnerabilities" detected in the trips he makes on airliners.
In the confidential document that Milei received in the last few hours, and to which Clarín had access, the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, warns about the risk faced not only by the head of state, but also by the passengers with whom he eventually shares the plane. the official delegation flew, in the face of "the present complex scenario of local and global impact, with innovative threats in technology and diversity."
The report, which the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei, has on her desk and which she will use to make changes in the logistical area of the Military House, recalls that since his inauguration on December 10, the president "has received different violent messages and threats to attack their lives and surroundings". And he points out a recent episode, prior to the trip he made to Miami, when the legend "EZE-Missing in Action" appeared on the website where he had to check in, referring to the flight he had to board.
Vulnerabilities detected
The document raises 13 points of possible conflict that the President faces when using commercial flights. Mauricio Macri had received a similar warning during his administration, when he had chosen not to resort to private planes when the Tango 01 became obsolete. "The Ministry of Security warned us about certain risks regarding the President continuing to fly on common commercial flights." said spokesman Manuel Adorni after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, announcing the changes. Although he did not say it at the time, the list of warnings, included in the report, was as follows:
1-Absence of armed guard on flights.
Commercial lines do not carry armed guards; in the event of a direct attack, it is impossible to respond and repel the aggression. In this situation, the crew personnel must be considered, as they do not have their background, as well as the list of passengers who, deliberately or not, constitute a possible threat against presidential security.
2-Capacity for passenger actions and attacks
Passengers with clear intention to cause damage or carry out a criminal act against the figure of the President and companions. These constitute
a high-risk situation, given that a potential
attacker with a predetermined plan to provoke an incident or attack against the presidential team could get confused and take advantage of the lack of a background check on the list of passengers, both local and foreign.
3-Passengers with psychological disorders
Passenger with emotional and psychological imbalance on board. The hermetic situation of the flight, and with the machine in the air with the impossibility of urgent and emergency descents, and in the case of existing among the passengers, a person with aggressive pathology, with loss of emotional balance, constitutes a latent danger. that could directly affect the presidential physical integrity.
4-Uncertainty about crew information and passenger list
Lack of knowledge about the personnel that make up the commercial aircraft crew. The background and professional skills, as well as the personal profile of the members of both pilots and flight attendants, are unknown.
There is no prior information to check and verify the technical and personal reliability, based on the role of proximity and knowledge of movements, of the president and his team.
5-Interference and attacks on commercial aircraft components
Cyber attacks and the electromagnetic spectrum, through the use of sensors, new technologies, internet networks, Wi Fi of the airline company, that affect the aircraft control systems (radars, communications, autopilot, control subsystems, landing) .
6-Control over promotion terminals, combinations and permanence
Place of custody, storage and operation of aircraft. You cannot control the prior technical, security and maintenance activities of the machine where the president will travel. The official flights, with their own machines, operate from bases designated for this purpose, with a very high level of security and operation according to the presidential needs.
On scheduled flights, the combination of means of transportation is difficult, between linking the descent of passengers with the vehicles of the presidential team and custody, and the reception and/or dispatch of luggage.
7-Control of personnel, luggage and loads
Absence of checking with own personnel of luggage and cargo transported on the commercial airplane.
8-Control of effects of the President and team
Absence of controlled handling, for the president's own safety, of his luggage and personal effects, and he may be subject to uncontrolled actions on them.
9-Modification of flight plan and alternatives
Impossibility of modifying the commercial flight plan according to the demands of new elements of judgment, which generate the prompt need to modify the course of action and agenda of the president, making an effective decision-making process impossible.
10-Dependency on times, schedules and itineraries established by commercial flights
Loss of freedom of action in situations beyond the control of the presidential team, due to stopovers, modification of established routes, delays, situations with the rest of the passengers, generate risks with absences of forecasts, in local and international locations, which put continuity at risk of the president's security.
11-Lack of response for unscheduled emergency flights
Impossibility of returning, due to emergency needs, dangerous situations, or changes in the situational context of the countries and areas of influence visited.
12-Limitations of communications in flight
Difficulty or absence of communications systems during flights, affecting the ability to inform, order and instruct, according to the needs of the times of acceleration of decisions and communication.
13-Impossibility of establishing security procedures
Difficulty in standardizing a protocol and procedure for ascent, descent and combination of means of transportation, given the impossibility of operating based on the president and his team, having to follow the rules of commercial companies, not controlling time or space, which increases exposure to possible threats.
However, beyond the announcement, the Government must now find alternatives to scheduled flights for international tours (for cabotage it will use the T-11 of the official fleet) and has the challenge that the expense required for the transfer of the President, do not collide with his "no money" flag that he raised since he took office. Even in January, on his first trip to the Davos Forum, Milei had boasted that, by choosing not to use the ARG-01, the presidential plane with which Alberto Fernández replaced the Tango-01, and taking his tickets on a scheduled flight, "the chosen mode of travel has saved about 392 thousand dollars."
Bullrich stood up to those who insisted Milei not change: "There is no money, but we have to take care of the President."
Although it was acquired last year, the Government doubts whether to use the ARG-01 and could hire private flights, something that, as Clarín said, he already did days ago to be able to visit magnate Elon Musk in Austin, Texas. It happens that mobilizing the Boeing 757-256, a plane prepared to transport much larger delegations than those that usually accompany Milei, is much more expensive than others with similar autonomy and smaller size. It was one of the reasons why the Fernández administration objected when it acquired this aircraft for 21 million dollars (plus the T-01). According to aviation sources, the cost per hour exceeds 14 thousand dollars, almost double that of other models from the same company.
Added to this is that the ARG-01 must undergo technical service in the United States to be able to fly. When Milei took office, the Government gave up on carrying out that operation because it involved a cost of 500 thousand dollars and requested an extension from Boeing that is about to expire. In June, when he must travel to the G7 in Italy, the President would not be able to use it.
In any case, at the Casa Rosada they make numbers and do not rule out putting it up for sale.