Sergio Neiffert: Secrets and business dealings of Milei's spy chief

At some point during their time in office, all Argentina’s governments bump into the same hurdle: the Secretaría de Inteligencia de Estado (SIDE), or, as it has sometimes been named, the Agencia Federal de Inteligencia (AFI).

Argentina’s intelligence services, state machinery which ought to prevent conflicts and assist in their resolution, become a factory of problems. The first sign that something is not right are information leaks. And over the last few weeks, the SIDE did not just have one leak – it was a veritable colander.

The last straw was an internal report called “Hechos previstos 09JUL25” (“Foreseen events 09JUL25”), which circulated in official stationery, unsigned and with the aesthetics of a policeman. The document, as published by Hugo Alconada Mon in the La Nación newspaper, was drafted by the area headed by Alejandro Cecati, Mauricio Macri’s former bodyguard today at the helm of the Agencia de Seguridad Nacional (ASN), one of the four agencies comprising the 21st century version of the SIDE. 

Cecati answers to Sergio Neiffert, the formal head of the body and is seen by his peers as backed by Antonio ‘Jaime’ Stiuso, the ghost who still roams the hallways of national intelligence.

The report had no classified information or striking revelations. It was, on first examination, a compilation of public activities scheduled for July 9: meetings of political opponents, union rallies, social demonstrations, legislative sessions. The usual. The unsettling thing was not what but who. 

A report thus drafted by SIDE is immediately linked with illegal intelligence. The now retired SIDE agent, Fernando Pocino, who today posts extensively on the X social network, defended the body’s work: “Situation reports, conflict maps, foreseen event reports or whatever they’re currently called, are a result of the mission and functions ordered by law to the Secretariat.”

The report mentioned activities by political opponents including Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof; former economy minister Sergio Massa; national deputy Máximo Kirchner; members of the CGT umbrella labour federation, Argentina’s largest, and other unions, including disability campaign groups. 

There was not a single mention of ruling party figures. Not a trace of Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei or La Libertad Avanza party organiser Sebastián Pareja, who those days were negotiating alliances with PRO. The document looked more like a sheet of opponents than the monitoring of current events.

Argentina's Law 25.520 on National Intelligence is clear: it prohibits domestic surveillance of people due to their activism, ideology or belonging to political groups or unions without judicial authorisation . The report listed electoral strategies, union claims and citizen protests as if they were latent threats, things worthy of being mapped by spies.

One of the most resounding pieces of data was the account of a private meeting between lawmakers Facundo Manes and Néstor Grindetti at the former’s address – information previously reported by the Página/12 newspaper a few hours earlier. So, what was the SIDE doing? Espionage or media assistance? Given this question, Manes reported the situation before Comodoro Py federal courts.

The SIDE defined it informally as a “press briefing.” Other connoisseurs said that, for it to be an intelligence report, it needed coding used in a specific paper, using giant watermark, sometimes red, giving traceability to the document in the event of any potential leaks. 

Neiffert, the top chief, did not comment. Intelligence Undersecretary Diego Kravetz did not either. Much less top presidential advisor Santiago Caputo, who is said to be involved to SIDE and remains silent. Karina Milei does not get into such matters, as she is handling the campaign. 

The leak lets slip that state intelligence has cracks, ones that have been lurking for a while and that is due to misrule at the helm. Sometimes formal chiefdoms are the real ones. Is Neiffert the true head of intelligence? Are they all answerable to him?

The first comment on Argentina’s top spy is that he spends quite a bit of time minding his affairs, which are, at the very least, curious. Not given their scale  – he is no tycoon  – but down to their variety. A map of interests mixing bricks and construction, cakes, signage, cleaning and even golf and sports representation. His assets filing with the Anti-Corruption Office even shows him as head of a construction company called New Francos SA, which he shares with his wife, Silvina De Cenzo, a professional baker. 

De Cenzo also owns a café under her influencer name: Espíritu Dulce (“Sweet Spirit”), on Avenida del Libertador, in San Isidro. Yet her food career did not end at a cake display; she might also be in charge of the catering at SIDE’s buildings and the National Intelligence School. Future agents taking courses in the Retiro building apparently call her “the chef.”

Neiffert’s corporate history also links him with the former mayor of Malvinas Argentinas, Jesús Cariglino. In 2008, they founded a company called New Consuld together, which saw them take up business as sports representatives. This data was included in the Official Gazette, though the enterprise seems to have never gone beyond incorporation formalities. It is not the only one: Neiffert also has two trademarks registered with the National Intellectual Property Institute (INPI). One is GolfIntercolegial (a mouthful) and the other one is Expozonanorte, also with a school fair kind of name.

However, he is especially interested in road signage. His company is called Carteles Ya (“Signs Now”), with its own website: www.cartelesya.com. The site is registered in his name, and the contact telephone on the page is in his wife’s name. It is one of those companies in the universe of road signs, large prints and “urban branding,” competing with greats in the industry such as Enrique ‘Pepe’ Albistur’s Wall Street. They offer services to companies, governments and private individuals. It does not seem incompatible with his current function, though it is not the type of enterprise one expects from a head of intelligence either.

As for family-owned businesses, there is another Neiffert too: Lautaro, his son, who today works as his father’s private secretary. On February 7, 2024 he founded a firm called Segur & Protección SRL, aimed at security and cleaning, an enterprise intending to join the meaty market of outsourced contracts, which never took off. Four months later, Sergio, the father, was called to head the SIDE and the plan was left at a standstill. 

Lautaro, rather than managing alarms and cleaning services, is fully committed to the state payroll. He is father’s shadow today: he accompanies him everywhere, from the offices at Casa Rosada to international tours. In May 2024, for instance, he travelled with him to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in a tour which had more to do with protocol than content. Santiago Caputo also went there – as Neiffert’s boss.

State intelligence, which should anticipate conflicts, today seems more focused on mapping the opposition than preventing real risks, if this latest leak is to be revealed. The report left not only malpractice exposed, but also points to a helm more concerned about parallel business than guarding secrets. 

Neiffert, with his family signage and cake companies, reflects the disarray of a structure operating with no control or a clear path. When the SIDE fails the nation, the problem is often not the leak itself, but the government itself.