The new chief of the army of Uruguay said that he did not know if the denunciations concerning the crimes of the dictatorship were real.

The new commander-in-chief of the Uruguayan army, Claudio Feola, who took office Monday, told reporters that he was "not in a position" to say whether the allegations of violations of human rights under the civil-military dictatorship (1973-1985) are real.

Feola's words were uttered following the order of the organization "Mothers and Families of Missing Prisoners", which asked the new commander to repudiate the events that occurred during the coup d'etat. .

"This answer gathers a lot of times when I'm not in conditions because I do not know if it's real or not.. Here, there are very old people who are able to do a psychological test, because they have been so in a hurry we do not know if they are in their true consciousness"said Feola.

In this sense, the Commander-in-Chief has stated that he will not repudiate what happened because he does not know if this is confirmed. Consulted on what would be what is not confirmed – whether it is disappearances or torture – he gave up answering.

Thereafter, Feola he was forced to make a statement in which he stated that he did not intend to "ignore the existence of missing persons" and stressed that the army "will continue to make every effort to respond to the demands of the victims". relatives".

Feola is the third commander-in-chief in less than a month since, in early March, Guido Manini Ríos was fired for interrogating the Uruguayan justice and on April 1, José González was dismissed after filtering the confessions of the crime of ex-military Jose. Gavazzo during the dictatorship that had been omitted by the authorities.

The dismissal of Gonzalez took place after the middle L & # 39; Observer published on 30 March in the record of the Uruguayan Army's Court of Honor, which included documents containing Gavazzo's confessions acknowledging committing crimes during the dictatorship.

The writings stated that in 1973 Gavazzo threw the body of the Tupamaro guerrilla, Roberto Gomensoro, on the Negro River (center) to make him disappear. In addition, the media pointed out that the former military Jorge Silveira had declared that Gavazzo was responsible for the death of Gomensoro and the disappearance of Maria Claudia García de Gelman.

For failing to report on former military confessions, Uruguay's president, Tabaré Vázquez, dismissed González and Chief of the Defense Staff, Alfredo Erramún.

In addition, the president asked the Senate Chamber to approve the promotion of the mandatory retirement card for generals Claudio Romano, Carlos Sequeira, Alejandro Salaverry and Gustavo Fajardo. All destitute military members were part of the Army's Court of Honor.

The events also resulted in the resignation of Defense Minister Jorge Menéndez, replaced today by José Bayardi.

The scandal broke out in the last year of Vázquez's term and in a party, the Frente Amplio, which defends the search for truth and justice for the victims of the dictatorship.

With regard to what happened, Feola pointed out that in the Uruguayan army "there is no pact of silence" on the facts of the dictatorship and this is demonstrated, since the Court of Honor recorded in the minutes the confession of Gavazzo.

"The army does not cover anyone, does not badume the murderers, the executioners, the kidnappers, does not hidehe badured.

Feola pointed out that, in the search for the missing, it would be based on the Constitution and the law, and that any information received by the army "will be transmitted by the command line".

"I know that parents are very hurt, we would all be hurt if it was missing, I have no doubt "he says

On the other hand, he acknowledged that the army was in a difficult situation because of everything that happened, although he denied that there was a malaise or a risk of loss of loyalty.

"The National Army is vertical, pyramidal, one commander is going and another enters. The army continues, has more than 200 years of history and will continue," he said. he concluded.