The Ministry of the Interior ( es, Ministerio del Interior) of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

is a ministry of the national executive power that manages issues pertaining to domestic politics such as immigration and co-ordination between the federal government and the governments of the

provinces of Argentina Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three federated states called provinces ( es, provincias, singular ''provincia'') and one called the autonomous city (''ciudad autónoma'') of Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the republic ( e ...

. The Ministry of the Interior is one of the oldest ministries in the Argentine government, having existed continuously since the formation of the first Argentine executive in 1854, in the presidency of

Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was bo ...

. The incumbent minister is Eduardo de Pedro, who has served since 10 December 2019 in the cabinet of

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

History

The Ministry of the Interior was one of the first five cabinet ministries formed by the first president of the Argentine Confederation,

, upon his ascension to the presidency on 5 March 1854. The first interior minister was Benjamín Gorostiaga. The name of the ministry remained unchanged for over a century until the presidency of

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

, when it was merged with the

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

portfolio under the administration of Ángel Borlenghi. The military administration of

Eduardo Lonardi Eduardo Ernesto Lonardi Doucet (; September 15, 1896 – March 22, 1956) was an Argentine Lieutenant General and served as de facto president from September 23 to November 13, 1955. Biography Lonardi was born on September 15, 1896. Lonar ...

restored the ministry its former name in 1955, and it wasn't until 2012 during the presidency of

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President o ...

that an additional portfolio, this time that of the transport ministry, was incorporated into the Interior portfolio. The successive administration of

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previo ...

added further responsibilities, merging the ministry with

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

and housing. In 2019, President

reorganized the cabinet ministries and separated the public works and housing responsibilities from the Interior Ministry, rendering back to its original name again.

Attributions and structure

Article 17 of the current Law on Ministries, adopted in 2019, lays out the purported attributions and responsibilities of the Ministry of the Interior of Argentina. According to the law, it is within the Ministry's responsibilities to assist the President and the Chief of Cabinet on all matters pertaining to the internal governance and the exercise of principles and constitutional guarantees, safekeeping the republican, representative and federal government. Some particular issues that are within the ministry's jurisdiction include judging on when it is pertinent to declare a

state of siege A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

; dealing with proposals of constitutional reform and organizing constitutional conventions when it is necessary; and maintaining a state of co-operation between the governments of the provinces of Argentina and the

Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...

, including inter-jurisdictional matters and relations, and coordinating policies that help and promote regional growth.

Structure and dependencies

The Ministry of the Interior counts with a number of centralized and decentralized dependencies. The centralized dependencies, as in other government ministers, are known as secretariats (secretarías) and undersecretariats (subsecretarías); there are currently three of these: *Secretariat of the Interior (''Secretaría del Interior'') **Undersecretariat of the Interior (''Subsecretaría del Interior'') *Secretariat of Provinces (''Secretaría de Provincias'') **Undersecretariat of Provincial Relations (''Subsecretaría de Relaciones con Provincias'') **Undersecretariat of Development Policies with Regional Equality (''Subsecretaría de Políticas para el Desarrollo con Equidad Regional'') *Secretariat of Municipalities (''Secretaría de Municipios'') **Undersecretariat of Municipal Relations (''Subsecretaría de Relaciones Municipales'') *Secretariat of Political Affairs (''Secretaría de Asuntos Políticos'') **National Institute for Political Training (''Instituto Nacional de Capacitación Política'') Several decentralized agencies also report to the Ministry of the Interior, such as the National Directorate for Migration (''Dirección Nacional de Migraciones''; DNM), the National Persons Registry (''Registro Nacional de las Personas'', Renaper), and the General Archive of the Nation.

Headquarters

Edificio Ferrocarril Central Argentino (Olds, ca

The Ministry of the Interior is headquartered at 25 de Mayo Avenue 101, in the San Nicolás '' barrio'' in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. The building originally housed the headquarters of the

Central Argentine Railway The Central Argentine Railway, referred to as CA below, (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Central Argentino) was one of the ''Big Four'' broad gauge, British companies that built and operated railway networks in Argentina. The company had been establis ...

List of ministers

References

External links

* {{authority control Interior Internal affairs ministries 1854 establishments in Argentina Ministries established in 1854