Newspapers over the Christmas holidays published statements and documents involving former army chief Radhames Zorrilla Ozuna, former chief of the Armed Forces, retired Major General Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez, and as high up as President Hipolito Mejia, in the irregular military career of former army captain Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo. Paulino Castillo is being singled out as a key figure in the confiscation of 1,387 kilos of cocaine last week in a joint US DEA and DNCD operation.
Soto Jimenez tried to wash his hands of all responsibility by saying he was merely following his superior’s orders. The direct boss of the chief of the Armed Forces is the President.
Former army chief, Radhames Zorrilla Ozuna, who openly campaigned for the re-election of former President Hipolito Mejia, also excused himself from wrongdoing by pointing to his superior, Soto Jimenez, as the person responsible. He refers to a 10 September 2003 memorandum that the Listin Diario published on 23 December that is signed by then-Armed Forces Minister Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez. The communique features the instructions of former President Hipolito Mejia, regarding Paulino Castillo’s promotion to first lieutenant of the Army.
Soto Jimenez, in turn, says that the latest promotion came following a recommendation from Zorrilla and he refers to the book that records the career of each military, where this recommendation is stipulated.
Paulino Castillo had been removed from the army on 1 August 2002 by then-Army chief, the retired General Manuel Ernesto Polanco Salvador. The order to remove him is retroactive to March 2002, when Paulino had been promoted to sergeant major of the army. When then-President Hipolito Mejia replaced Polanco Salvador with Zorrilla Ozuna, Paulino was reinstated and promoted.
The Listin Diario says that former President Hipolito Mejia had received army intelligence reports, supported by investigations made by by the DEA, the frontier intelligence service (DOIF), and the Drug Department (DNCD) on the suspicion that 44-year-old Paulino was involved in drug smuggling operations. The newspaper explains that Mejia had been notified that the DEA was on Paulino’s trail. As reported in the Listin Diario, Mejia was made aware of the situation in April 2004, but considered it inauspicious to remove the officer, as such an action could capitalized on politically by his opponent in the May 2004 election.
The Listin Diario editorial over the holidays commented that then-President Hipolito Mejia had boasted on several occasions that he was the most informed man in the nation.