NewsWhore
09-02-2011, 05:30 PM
President Leonel Fernandez expressed his fear of the military in the DR, and his incapacity to fight corruption in 2004, as reported in a WikiLeaks file released on Alicia Ortega's TV show yesterday.
In the 2004 file, US Ambassador Hans Hertell wrote:
"When the Ambassador raised the issue of the well-known military practice of skimming 10 percent or more on contracts, Fernandez replied: 'That goes beyond my ability to intervene. If a Latin American president interferes seriously with those types of military matters, he risks getting shot.' Fernandez said that his decree retiring 99 generals within the first month of the administration had already caused him difficulties. His intelligence services had told him of threats of assassination. He said he believes that the recent violence may be due in part by agitation by forces hostile to him".
See the Spanish and English versions of the file at www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/6698/56/Wikileaks-Lea-completo-en-ingles-y-espanol-el-cable-de-Embajada-de-EE-UU.html (http://www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/6698/56/Wikileaks-Lea-completo-en-ingles-y-espanol-el-cable-de-Embajada-de-EE-UU.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
In the 2004 file, US Ambassador Hans Hertell wrote:
"When the Ambassador raised the issue of the well-known military practice of skimming 10 percent or more on contracts, Fernandez replied: 'That goes beyond my ability to intervene. If a Latin American president interferes seriously with those types of military matters, he risks getting shot.' Fernandez said that his decree retiring 99 generals within the first month of the administration had already caused him difficulties. His intelligence services had told him of threats of assassination. He said he believes that the recent violence may be due in part by agitation by forces hostile to him".
See the Spanish and English versions of the file at www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/6698/56/Wikileaks-Lea-completo-en-ingles-y-espanol-el-cable-de-Embajada-de-EE-UU.html (http://www.acento.com.do/index.php/news/6698/56/Wikileaks-Lea-completo-en-ingles-y-espanol-el-cable-de-Embajada-de-EE-UU.html)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)