no wonder there is a crime problem there. With all of that brass, who is patroling the streets. My goodness, 71 Colonels, 58 Lt. Cols., and 88 Majors that is probably more than most countries twice the size of the DR have.. The city of Houston, Texas and the metropolitian area has a population of around 4 million and have a police force of over 5000 officers with only 46 Captians. With that kind of upper brass you would expect a police force of over 10,000 police.

long overdue .....will they be replaced by anything better or just loyal stooges .....honest loyal stooges would be OK

Will all these officers be remain on the payroll? Pensions?

It says in the article they will be retired and given pensions!!!

No doubt, they are being "retired" for the "good of the service" andto get them out of the limelight and the investigatory process.
We can't have any "Active Duty" personnel being investigated, no can we?
It just might be that this move will send a signal to all the others to "keep their noses clean" or suffer the same consequencies for their transgressions.

TB

I didn't believe LF had the guts to do something this good.

I now believe as of today the whole LA/C will take a long and careful second look at LF and ask, in the immortal words of Edwin Hawkins, "What is this" and "Whatever it is," it won't let me hold my peace.

bueno para el Ejército .. hahaha .. muy bueno

more generals are to be put on retirement pensions a leat they won't be receiving dietas anymore and no more police and goverment vehicles at their services alone with all the bodygards. that's good sign wont you guys agree

With a combined military in the country of around 35,000, which includes army , navy, airforce and police they have 22 generals,71 Colonels, 58 Lt. Cols., and 88 Majors,??? texas bill can you explain this

Wow. so many high ranking officials. The dominican military is the best job in the country.. fast promotion, pension,transportation, and you can get commision on the items you confiscate! its wonderful :-/

What must real officers from around the world think when they meet these men? What does it mean to call yourself a general when there are over two dozen of you in a military barely the size of (and probably half as sophisticated as) the NYPD? To me this is a prime signal of a backward nation; every macho idiot must have stars on his shoulder. Pathetic...I hope this is a real rationalization of the DR armed forces and not a facade for something even more sinister.

I know a few retired generals who still have state issued suvs, bodyguards, etc. So at the end of the day tihs doesnt mean anyhting.

Now they switch to support the other party as all try to get back on active duty. The incentive to the military in DR has never been the salary. That ment nothing. It is the power, corruption, access.
Those that were not on the list, now have less strife to secure, kickbacks and influence peddling.

Well, from a true TO&E standpoint, I'd say that rom the "rank & file" standpoint, the"file" end gets the dirty stick while the "rank" end gets the gravy.
From all appearances Majors take theplace of 2.Lts; Lt.Cols take theplace of 1/Lts. and Cols take theplaceof Capts. The Generals must be equivilent to Majors. That'sbased on COMPANY manning.
They just have it bass ackwards.

TB

guys, the 71 colonels and 22 generals are just the ones retired. that is not the total. there's probably a few more dozens floating around. and ABR has made the most insightful remark. they will just link up with the PRD and get their jobs back when that party returns to power.

or more sinster join forces with CHANDLIER OF THE LAW AND ORDER PARTY

Written by: BLANCO, 25 Aug 2008 4:52 PM
From: Dominican Republic
or more sinster join forces with CHANDLIER OF THE LAW AND ORDER PARTY

sounds likely , very likely ..... I wounder if this had anything to do with the plot to over through him

If anyone of these Men have anything to do with the drugs coming in they should be tried for crimes, ,...they should not get there pensions either..... but i guess he fired all of them or retired as he calls it. and wnats to start new

If anyone of these Men have anything to do with the drugs coming in they should be tried for crimes, ,...they should not get there pensions either..... but i guess he fired all of them or retired as he calls it. and wnats to start new

Can anyone Spell "PEPE GOICO". I have to believe that LF is alot smarter (on his worst day) than Hipolito. He knows not to fear these guys, but has no way to make them better.

The only good thing is, that these so called Generals, are Paper Tigers. We do not have to fear a coup from the military. Not that I approved of the Generals of the past, they were mean and abusive, but they were respected.

None of those we see today are as respected or feared, as those Generals from the 60's and 70's, Lajara-Burgos, Perez -Perez, DeWindt- Lavandier, Atila Luna, Belisario Peguero, Beuchamp Javier. those were leaders. Balaguer used kid gloves with them because they were a tough crowd, you did not want to double cross.

Remember Ney Nivar Seija, or Wessin who was a Major when he pulled the air force to go against the Camano guys. Camano was a LtCol, Monte Arache was a Major.

Caamano was once president ...... he has streets named after him, statues .. Respect this man

"Now they switch to support the other party as all try to get back on active duty. The incentive to the military in DR has never been the salary. That ment nothing. It is the power, corruption, access.
Those that were not on the list, now have less strife to secure, kickbacks and influence peddling," ABR23 writes.

oooo

One of the most perceptive things I've read in this forum.

by the way had my 1st Presidente yesterday - very nice - continued today

Dominicana Republicana is best .. si?

How does the voting public accept the vast amount of brass and stripes? This is a good first step in being accountable to the people that elected LF. I agree with the previous comments that state that huge difference between population and generals and colonels of every kind. Corruption takes a stranglehold on every aspect of your daily life. Lessening corruption has to start somewhere... this is a good start! Lets support these efforts any way we can.

Jgonzalez: Exactly the "Professional" Military in DR has never been able to;
Defend the Constitution. It is the 1st to trample it.
It has never protected the country of an invasion. They called in the OAS and USA.
It has never killed enemy soldiers. Only served to opress and kill their own people.

In a way DR is lucky, that we do not have a Chavez or Pinochet. These are not small countries and the Army runs the Govt. Again what is good or bad about those leaders is not the theme, just the fact that in DR no one from the military has garnered that type of power and influence since Trujillo.

We need an example to copy, and it is not the USA. It is most likely Panama and Costa Rica, which have veered to a civilian police authority, coast guard and aviation. Trust me no one wants to invade DR. a good border patrol and correctional guards. Maybe a National Guard type unit of 2 brigades.

jgonzalez, you need to understand that the military in the DR is, or was, not intended to be a lean, mean, fighting machine, ready to ward off invaders and protect the homeland. its main role is to keep the populace in a constant state of intimidation, to blunt any ideas people might entertain about overthrowing the government. the ranks of general, colonel, etc, are not awarded for fighting or strategic prowess, but for being loyal subjects to the political and financial directorate.

ABR23 said: None of those we see today are as respected or feared, as those Generals from the 60's and 70's, Lajara-Burgos, Perez -Perez, DeWindt- Lavandier, Atila Luna, Belisario Peguero, Beuchamp Javier. those were leaders. Balaguer used kid gloves with them because they were a tough crowd, you did not want to double cross.

Remember Ney Nivar Seija, or Wessin who was a Major when he pulled the air force to go against the Camano guys. Camano was a LtCol, Monte Arache was a Major.
-----------------
You said a mouthful, compay.
Those were old fashioned, military Quisqueyanos. Men who saw gunfight @ Maimon y Estero Hondo, and lead forces in several battles and skirmishes between 1961 through 1966.
My only concern is that these top echelon officers will now draw a paycheck without working. Secondly, there is a possibility that some of these may be disgruntled about their retirements, and join in a "Complot". We have seen these things before. It wouldn't be un-precedented.

I was wondering why the town's people were taking the law into their own hands...no officers are around to handle anything. Hopefully they start recuriting new & professional people, people who will uphold the law, not their pockets.

Strawbery...they were not taking the law into their own hands they were taking the cocaine into their own hands......money money money... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkRIbUT6u7Q

i beg to correct you Goulet. they were looking to take the cocaine into their own hands, but, alas, it had already fallen into more auspicious hands!

gouletcolonial,

I know that, what I was referring to was the actions of the people when there are no cops around...
From what I've been hearing is that when crimes are being committed police are no where to be found, so the towns people have resorted to handling things on their own.
If you catch a thief/murder someone & the police are not around, do you think the locals are going to leave that person on the street.
Next time, get my name right

sorry about that I am not a good typist so i shorten you will be Strawman.....this procedure to which you refer was called" string em up "in the old west .....it was also a great movie line ....W.C.Fields about to hung from a tree on horseback was asked if he had any last requests to which he replied " Ive never seen Paris " to which the leader replied " String em up " then the immortal Fields says "Philadelphia will do "

President Balaguer once said, "we need not raise the salaries of our public officials since they have enough secondary incomes derived from bribes received in performing their official duties".

Jander that is a LA tradition and particularly true in the military.... Generals control the greymarket in perfume and liquor and cigarettes in many countries in lieu of salaries