Latin America
Related: About this forumSantos replaces almost entire command of Colombia’s armed forces
Santos replaces almost entire command of Colombias armed forces
Posted by Adriaan Alsema on Jul 7, 2015
President Juan Manuel Santos on Monday replaced the leadership of Colombias armed forces following the appointment of a new Defense Minister and a human rights report condemning top military commanders for their alleged responsibility in killing civilians.
In a speech, Santos announced he would replace the heads of the National Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The Armed Forces commander and
the director of the National Police would stay on.
The new commander of the National Army is General Alberto Mejia, the Navys new top commander is Leonardo Santamaria and the Air Force will welcome General Carlos Bueno as its new commander.
Controversially, Armed Forces commander General Juan Pablo Rodriguez will stay on, in spite of recent revelations he and the outgoing Army commander, General Jaime Lasprilla, were implicated in the executing of several dozens of civilians, a gruesome military practice that cost more than thousand civilians their lives.
More:
http://colombiareports.com/santos-replaces-almost-entire-command-of-colombias-armed-forces/
[center]
General Juan Pablo Rodriguez [/center]
Peace Patriot
(24,010 posts)i.e., he didn't go along with the other commanders in sabotaging the peace talks.
See my comments at your other post:
Colombia now open to bilateral ceasefire with FARC
http://www.democraticunderground.com/110842057#post1
Judi Lynn
(160,682 posts)It takes phenomenal courage to remain loyal to a President in a country with a powerful right-wing, just like General Carlos Prats, in Chile, murdered by a Chilean secret service agent for staying loyal to his President, Salvador Allende.
Glad you mentioned this likelihood. It does make little sense to keep him, if he were in lock-step with the others, when it's time to clean house.