Painter and former leftist Silvano Lora, who is dying of terminal cancer, said yesterday in the trial to determine the culprits of the murder of journalist Orlando Martínez in 1975 that former President Joaquín Balaguer confessed to cattle ranchers Cesareo Contreras, Joselyn Rodriguez Conde and Juan Biaggi that "those four killed him", referring to top military brass of the time — Chief of the Navy Manuel Logroño Contín, Chief of the Army Enrique Pérez y Pérez, and Chief of the Air Force Salvador Lluberes Montás, and Minister of the Armed Forces Ramón Emilio Jiménez. Of the four, only Lluberes Montás has been arrested for the case. El Siglo newspaper coverage on the trial says that what has come about from the court appearances is a case of coverups, self-defense and self-protection of military and police groups, solidarity and brotherhood among ranks. A month after the murder of the journalist, the top military brass resigned, coinciding with the appointment of General Neit Rafael Nivar Seijas as chief of the Police. The late Nivar Seijas reportedly carried out a parallel investigation into the crime and this dossier did not surface until 22 years later. Balaguer has been called for a third time to testify. Silvano Lora said that Balaguer needs to testify because he had the total control of the country, and nothing was done without his consent. In a meeting with the high ranking military with Balaguer, he said that Ramon Emilio Jimenez had commented, "well, okay we went too far (bueno, se nos fue la mano)" Testifying, Ramon Emilio Jiménez denied his or the participation of the top military ranks in the crime. In 1997, Orlando Martínez’s mother, the late Adriana Howley, in 1997 presented a judicial complaint against Balaguer, accusing him and retired military officers who held high ranking posts at the time of being the material and intellectual authors of her son’s murder. Balaguer refused to testify. It is said that Balaguer knows details that can clarify the case. In 1989 on page 333 of his autobiography, "Memoria de un Cortesano de la Era de Trujillo" "This page is left blank. For many years it will remain mute, but one day it will speak up so that its words can be picked up by history. Silent like a tomb whose secret will be spoken out, accusing, when time permits to lift the tombstone under which the truth lies. The content is left in the hands of a person who because of reasons of age supposedly will live longer than I will and I have entrusted this person with making public the information several years after my death." Balaguer will be 94 years old this year. Ramon Emilio Jimenez, who at the time was Minister of the Armed Forces, and later was appointed Minister of Foreign Relations during a Balaguer administration, said that the military that are accused committed the crime out of their own will. He denied the top ranking military ever issued the order to kill Martínez, whose journalistic articles he described as "acidic." He also answered a question of District Attorney Francisco Domínguez Brito that to carry out the murder without informing the higher up authorities violated military code. For the case, retired generals Joaquin Antonio Pou Castro, Salvador Lluberes Montás and José Isidoro Martínez (died under arrest), as well as corporal Mariano Durán Cabrera, and civilians Luis Emilio de la Rosa Beras and Alfredo Lluberes Ricart have been arrested. Carlos Balcacer, who represents Pou Castro in the case, said that the rush to move the case is because former President Balaguer himself wants the case closed prior to 16 August when the PRD government begins its administration. Balcacer says that Balaguer fears "disconsideration" by the PRD authorities. Balaguer televised for weeks the case against corruption in the government of former PRD President Salvador Jorge Blanco (1982-86). Tele Isla, Canal 21 suspended the live television transmission of the case. Listin Diario says that the executive director of the station resigned when the order was given to discontinue the live telecast. Last year, news reports say that Josefina Navarro of CDN resigned, when the station decided to suspend the live telecast of the trial. For more on the case, see www.dr1.com/daily/news072700.shtml
