Armed Forces commander becomes new Defense Minister (Colombia)

[Judi Lynn]

Armed Forces commander becomes new Defense Minister
Saturday, 23 May 2009 07:58

http://colombiareports.com.nyud.net:8090/pics/government/santos_padilla.jpg
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe assigned current Armed Forces commander General Freddy Padilla de Leon as successor of Juan Manuel Santos as Defense Minister. Padilla will combine his job as Minister with that of ultimate chief of the Armed Forces.

Uribe announced the decision Friday evening together with the official acceptance of Santos' resignation. Uribe asked Santos "to continue to help Colombia."

The Defense Minister resigned Monday to allow him to run for the 2010 Presidency in case his boss Alvaro Uribe decides not to or is not allowed to.

Padilla de Leon led Colombia's Armed Forces since August 2006.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/4170-chief-of-staff-becomes-new-defense-minister.html

http://justf.org.nyud.net:8090/files/images/gallery/071023co01.jpg

Freddy Padilla meets _Bush's ambassador William Brownfield



Getty Images 28 months ago
US Army Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace (R) and Colombian General Commander of Military Forces Freddy Padilla shake hands during a meeting January 18, 2007, in Bogota. Pace is in a two-day official visit to Colombia.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Colombia: scandal-tainted Freddy Padilla is new defense chief

Colombia: scandal-tainted Freddy Padilla is new defense chief

Submitted by WW4 Report on Mon, 05/25/2009 - 00:20. Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on May 23 named armed forces chief Gen. Freddy Padilla de Leon as his new defense minister. Padilla will retain his current post while taking over the defense portfolio from Juan Manuel Santos, who recently resigned to prepare a possible run for president in 2010. Santos was a mastermind of the current administration's crackdown on FARC guerillas, who have seen their leadership decimated during Santos' near three-year tenure. (AFP, May 23)

Padilla was named by human rights investigators as a likely overseer of army-paramilitary collaboration when he commanded the Magdalena Medio region seven years go. His tenure as armed forces chief was shadowed by the grisly "false positives" scandal, among others.

Santos is considering a presidential run, unless—as appears likely right now—President Uribe pushes through changes to Colombia's constitution allowing him to run for a third term. Under Colombian law, cabinet ministers with presidential aspirations must leave office a year before the presidential election—a deadline which is imminent. (CIP Colombia Program, May 18)

http://www.ww4report.com/node/7358

[rabs]

2. Think the media did not do its homework on Padilla de Leon's appointment

Padilla de Leon's appointment as Min. Def. should be temporay, unless Uribe is riding rough-shod over the Colombian Constitution.

I understand that the new constitution of 1991 called for the minister of defense to be a civilian, not a military man.

During the period 1953 to 1991, there were 16 consecutive generals who were defense minister.

After 1991, there have been 12 civilians who held the post, Santos being the last. So Padilla de Leon is the first milico appointed to the job in 18 years.

Expect that Uribe will name a civilian because Padilla de Leon has the "false positives" hanging over his head. Besides, it would be unconstitutional, as if that matters under the Uribe regime.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Without knowing the background of Colombia's moving military right into major cabinet positions,

I immediately wondered if that didn't really look rotten, having a notorious personality like this guy as their Defense Secretary. My God. Incidences of the "false positives" were so blatant even the Washington Post broke down and discussed them. You know that means there was too much wicked nastiness, dirty lying murders going on for even the Post to completely whitewash.

It should be interesting to see if anyone will dare to start looking at deeper investigations of this guy. We know it's possible, but we also know that it may not be all that possible to pull off a really good investigative story in Colombia and live to talk about it. It really cuts down on incentive, doesn't it?

What must be the smallest area of study in any of the Colombian universities? The School of Journalism. I'll bet you can only get so many young would-be writers who want to spend their time covering social events, traffic reports, and floods, earthquakes, and mudslides, obituaries, marriages, and the First Baby Born in the New Year.

RIP to all the dead Colombian journalists who've tried to comment on their government.