Rear Admiral Sigfrido Pared Perez rejected the notion yesterday that there was any dissension within the military over the 300 rank promotions revoked this week. The Armed Forces minister, in an interview with the Listin Diario, assured that these advancements were improperly authorized and he estimated that 98% of the military applauded their rescindment as he did.
Minister Pared Perez cited examples of officials who had been favored “gratuitously” by their superiors, some of them receiving as many as five promotions in as few as four years, while the usual timeframe for the ascension to the rank of captain or major is four years, he said. Those who were selected for such swift advancement were, according to Pared Perez, those with close ties to high-ranking military members or top-level functionaries of the previous government. He said that most of those who had benefited by the promotions did little more than turn up for work and “hold doors open for the bosses,” and that it was these “bosses” who independently handed out the promotions without having them authorized by their superiors, the Armed Forces minister, or the President. Most of these promotions were awarded in the final days of the Mejia government, according to the minister.
Pared Perez indicated that even the grand majority of those involved in the annulments, as members of an institution that is based on respect for rules and the law, recognize the justness of revoking promotions that were unduly given. If anything, the minister felt the demotions would serve to strengthen the forces, not cause discord.