Armed Forces Minister Jos? Miguel Soto Jimenez has called on the Central Bank to publicize the list of 70 generals alleged to have received gifts from Baninter. According to the Central Bank report, which detailed the scope of the Baninter collapse, the bank president paid the cell phone bills of 70 generals, made monthly payments and gave numerous gifts of expensive watches and other items. He said that as long as the list is not made public, its existence cannot be proved and could therefore be dismissed as ?rumor?.
Yesterday, Diario Libre published a statement made by Colonel Puro Vicente de la Cruz Arias, the spokesman for the Armed Forces, who said the institution would not investigate the 70 generals who had allegedly received the Baninter monies because the force does not get involved in what it called the ?extraofficial? activities of its members.