translated from Spanish: Defence committees supported change in the high command of the Army

the commissions of Defense of the Senate and Chamber gave a boost to the Government and supported the decision of Sebastián Piñera call retirement 21 of the 46 gene rales of the top brass of the army. The measure applied by the Minister of Defensa Alberto Espina caused a series of reactions. In this sense, one of the parliamentarians in supporting what happened was the UDI Senator, Víctor Pérez, Member of the Defence Committee, who said that “the high command had to have a review, and think that the Commander in Chief and the Defense Minister have made a working or exhaustive. (…) I hope this means a change that revitalized the army, enabling it to develop their work away the economic situation and the ups and downs of judicial proceedings,”he said. Also, the Chairman of the Committee on defense of the Senate, Pedro Araya, told El Mercurio that it would be an “unprecedented fact”. “Worrying that I’ve had to call retirement 21 generals. It is an unprecedented fact, something we had not seen before.” While from the DC, the Chairman of the Committee on defense of the Chamber, Manuel Antonio Matta, insisted that it was “a severe change, but positive.” (…) I hope that this new high command comes with a different Mystique, which is emphasizing that the army must set an example in terms of honesty and be a Republican institution,”he said.

Original source in Spanish