MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina: “We need to expunge infectious cells” said Defence Minister

Defence Minister Nilda Garré yesterday warned that to “heal the wounds” left by the 1976-1983 dictatorship the government must “expunge infectious cells” created by a bunch of officers, whom President Néstor Kirchner accused of vindicating state terrorism. She denied any unease among the armed forces.

"Some say that we do not want to heal wounds," Garré said during a reception to mark Journalist's day tomorrow "I say emphatically that we do want to heal the wounds, but we need to expunge infectious cells from inside (the armed forces) because otherwise the process of healing is never completed and problems arise again."

Garré, a former member of the leftwing Montonero guerrilla group during the 1970s and 1980s, last November became the first woman to be appointed Defence minister in Argentina.

Opposition leaders have accused Kirchner of a biased policy of persecuting current and former armed forces officers accused of human rights violations, but of failing to also persecute former members of guerrilla groups.

According to Kirchner (and human rights groups), 30,000 people were killed or made to disappear by the dictatorship, although according to other official data the figure is 14,000.

On May 24 a group of officers gathered for what they said was a ceremony to honour the military and civilians killed by rebel groups during the 1970s and 1980s. But Kirchner, in a speech to celebrate Army Day the next Monday, warned that this was tantamount to a vindication of state terrorism. That day Kirchner left before attending a military parade. Subsequently, the officers involved are now under arrest.

Asked by the Herald whether Kirchner's early exit had not been a snub for the armed forces, Garré said: "His early departure had been scheduled. We were not able to bring the parade forward, as he requested at 10am the same day because he had to be in Olivos (presidential residence). But no modification was possible at that stage. (Army chief General Roberto) Bendini said: ?I cannot do that, how do I alter the ceremony at this stage?' The President understood that. It was not a snub."

Asked whether servicemen had not taken it as a snub, Garré said: "I hope not. Bendini knew that by 9.30 or 10am (that the President was leaving early)."

Garré also announced that yesterday or today the government was sending to Congress a bill to enforce a law passed 18 years ago aimed at putting the armed forces under civilian leadership and that has not been implemented yet.

Also attending the reception were the head of the joint-chiefs-of-staff Brigadier Jorge Chevalier, Bendini and chiefs-of-staff Admiral Jorge Godoy (navy) and Brigadier Eduardo Schiaffino (air force), all of whom joined the minister for a long talk on the sidelines of the reception.

Garré said that "the armed forces must have a civilian leadership... For a long time civilians dragged their feet on this issue, with bad results for the armed forces and society as a whole."

Asked whether there was unease among the armed forces, Garré said: "Not at all. It is just a very small group of retired officers who live disconnected from current reality and with nostalgia for a country that will not return."

However, there was very little applause when she ended her speech and a military source who requested anonymity told the Herald that "things are not quite as the minister says. Many of us wonder how far all this will go." Nevertheless, the source said that the armed forces were fully subordinated to the Constitution and that there is not even the slightest possibility of a rebellion.

When asked why Major Pedro Mercado was forced into retirement, Garré said: "That you have to ask the chief-of-staff, who is the person who applies the sanctions."

Mercado's wife Cecilia Pando has been very vocal for some time now. During the Army Day ceremony on May 29, when Kirchner said that the officers attending the ceremony to honour victims of political violence had vindicated state terrorism, she publicly shouted at the President "That is a lie, that is a lie," before security personnel marched her away. She has also accused Bendini of being a traitor and of having washed his hands after advocating the fight against terrorism in the 1970s.

Garré was not at ease when asked about reported plans to close military schools. "Is that the big issue, guys? We are considering a superior joint war college, that is, a navy school, and a military academy where officers are instructed not only technically but also regarding the basic values a democratic officer must have, of respect for the Constitution, for the President of the nation and for human rights."

By Guillermo Háskel Buenos Aires Herald