The official has been reported to the Public Prosecution Service for the death of a colonel in Mali. The Legislative Assembly has recommended that he be removed from office.
The Minister of Defense, René Francis Merino Monroy, was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral, the highest rank in El Salvador’s naval forces.
The promotion was filed in General Decree No. 12/020 of the preceding December 31, of which El Diario de Hoy has obtained a copy.
Along with Merino Monroy, Carlos Alberto Tejada Murcia, Chief of Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, was also promoted to the rank of Division General (the highest in the military), according to the document.
Apopa tour
At the end of order 14/020, it is stated that the appointments of such a document would come into effect from January 1, 2021.
Despite this, Merino Monroy hung up the vice admiral insignia from December 31, when the General Order was signed by the Commander General of the Armed Forces, Nayib Bukele, and he, as Secretary of National Defense, still holds the rank of Rear Admiral -night.
In several tweets published by the Presidential Press Secretariat on the night of December 31, Merino Monroy appeared as he walked the streets of the Apopa Congregation. The palm and three stars already appeared on his cap.
Merino Monroy was promoted to Vice Admiral on December 31, 2019, a promotion that has been questioned by military leaders because he was supposedly no longer in an active situation as the Military Career Law indicates that he turned 55 years old with the degree of Colonel , they automatically go into reserve status.
In addition, the promotion court was reformed, replacing one of its members with another who could endorse the promotion of the then captain of the navy, in violation of the military career law and a resolution of the constitutional chamber, military lawyers consulted.
Complaints and advice on dismissal
Merino Monroy’s trajectory as Secretary of Defense has been questioned, as pointed out by military leaders who criticize the official’s promotion.
Merino Monroy has been reported to the Attorney General’s Office for the death of a lieutenant colonel, a pilot, of the contingent of Salvadoran forces stationed in Mali.
In addition, last September, the Legislative Assembly recommended that he be removed from office after being questioned for his role in the takeover of the Legislative Assembly on February 9, 2020, an act that has been described nationally and internationally as a coup d’etat, requiring which police and armed forces burglaries in the Blue Room of the Legislative Palace.
In this case, the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, has usurped the functions of the President of the Legislative Body in order to pressure the delegates to approve a $ 9 million loan allegedly intended for the territorial control plan that his government is developing.
The Territorial Control Plan has been promoted by the executive as the strategy that has reduced murders, but the digital newspaper El Faro published evidence several months ago that the Bukele government has agreed to a ceasefire with gang groups. .
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