Argentine Naval Prefecture

Argentine Naval Prefecture Prefectura Naval Argentina
Abbreviation	PNA
Emblem of the Prefecture.
Motto	Robur et quies iuxta litora et in undis Valour and safety in coasts and waters
Agency overview
Formed	June 1810
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Federal agency (Operations jurisdiction)	Argentina
Legal jurisdiction	As per operations jurisdiction.
General nature	Federal law enforcement Civilian agency
Operational structure
Headquarters	Ave. E. Madero 235, Buenos Aires
Elected officer responsible	Patricia Bullrich, Minister of Security
Agency executives	Prefect General Eduardo Scarzello, National Prefect Prefect General Hugo Ilacqua, National Subprefect
Parent agency	Ministry of Security of Argentina
Zones	10 Alto Paraná Alto Uruguay Paraná Superior and Paraguay Lower Uruguay Lower Paraná Delta Río de la Plata North Argentine Sea South Argentine Sea Lacustre and Comahue
Facilities
Helicopters	7
Planes	10
Website
www.prefecturanaval.gov.ar
Footnotes
Phone: 54 11 4318 7400 March: March of the Naval Prefecture

The Argentine Naval Prefecture (Spanish: Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of the Argentine Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coast guards, and furthermore acts as a gendarmerie force policing navigable rivers.

According to the Argentine Constitution, the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic cannot intervene in internal civil conflicts, so the Prefecture is defined as a civilian "security force of a military nature". It maintains a functional relationship with the Ministry of Defense, as part of both the National Defense System and the Interior Security System. It therefore maintains capabilities arising from the demands required by joint military planning with the armed forces.

The PNA is a large organization for a coastguard. With a strength of 28,900 sworn members, the PNA is a larger organization than most national navies, and is in fact slightly larger than the Argentine Navy - the organization upon which it had been attached for a long time until the 1980s, when it was transferred to direct control of the Ministry of Defense.

The Prefecture's predecessor is the ports service founded by the first autonomous Argentine government in June 1810, six years before Argentina declared independence. In Argentina this is considered the official founding date of the PNA. The first commander of the force was Colonel Martín Jacobo Thompson, a Porteño of partially English descent who had served against the British in the invasions of 1806–7. Thompson was given the title of "Captain of Ports" (Spanish: "Capitán de Puertos").

Although the PNA traces itself back to its predecessor of 1806, the modern Prefecture was in fact founded in the late nineteenth century as the "National Maritime Prefecture" on the initiative of Manuel Florencio Mantilla, a well-known Argentine senator who was also a respected academic and intellectual. The law pertaining to it was enacted in October 1896.