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Peru's New PM Announces Shake-up of Military Leadership
Peru's new President of the Council of Ministers Javier de Cuellar on Saturday fired the head of the Armed Forces' Joint Chiefs of General Staff, Gen. Walter Chacon, and a dozen of other senior military officers in a large-scale reshuffle in the military.
The move was taken shortly after the former UN secretary-general and his interim cabinet were sworn in earlier Saturday by President Valentin Paniagua, who replaced the sacked former president Alberto Fujimori last week.
Chacon's replacement is Carlos Tafur, who was forced into early retirement earlier this year by Fujimori for being at odds with Fujimori's close aide, former spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos.
The government also ordered 12 regional commanders to retire immediately rather than stay on the posts till their mandatory retirement scheduled for December 31.
The shake-up is seen as a vital step taken by Paniagua and his government to root out the influence of Fujimori and Montesinos on the military. The 12 removed commanders are all classmates of Montesinos in the country's military academy.
New Defense Minister Gen. Carlos Tafur said that those professionally in line for promotion will succeed these commanders.
Fujimori, who had ruled Peru for two decades, fled to Japan two weeks ago after the opposition controlled the Congress, endangering his grip on power which was already rocked by a bribery scandal involving Montesinos.
Montesinos, now in hiding, is wanted for allegedly trying to bribe an opposition lawmaker in order to gain his support for Fujimori in the May elections.
Last Tuesday, the Congress voted to dismissed Fujimori, who faxed in his resignation from Tokyo, on grounds of "morally unfit. "
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