Facts and not words

I read with great attention the column by Cesar Barros in this medium on Saturday, July 6. I am surprised that Cesar, being so informed and knowledgeable, and also familiar with the Army, overlooked that the current Minister of Defense, Alberto Espina, has already taken the bull by the horns. As the minister himself states, we have moved from ‘we need to’ to action, as we cannot remain forever in diagnosis. This is why I dare to mention that in a recent interview with Minister Espina on Radio Infinita, Juan Manuel Astorga noted that never before in an administration has so much been done regarding the modernization of national defense and its armed institutions.

While not disregarding the validity of the measures recommended by Mr. Barros, which are certainly interesting and should be analyzed, let us review the main ones that have been implemented or are in the process of execution from the total of 15 measures already announced by the Ministry of Defense in February of this year:

1) Modification of the law on reserved funds, which includes a much more thorough and detailed control by political authorities, while ensuring the confidentiality required for intelligence and counterintelligence operations, including all aspects of cybersecurity,

2) New law for financing national strategic capabilities that replaces the very worn and criticized copper law,

3) Improvement in the quality and quantity of audit and internal control schemes at both the ministry level and the armed institutes, which include the active participation of the Comptroller General of the Republic,

4) New regulation on travel and freight that, had it existed, would have eliminated a good part of the problems the army faces today, and 

5) Finally, all of the above and the other measures taken or in the process of implementation are public, transparent, and available on the ministry’s website, including details and progress status.

In summary, I believe that the Minister, his ministerial team, and General Martinez have taken the bull by both horns.

Richard Kouyoumdjian Inglis

Published in La Tercera, Friday, July 12, 2019