A DOMINICAN MILITARY GENERAL ACCUSED OF TIES TO DRUG TRAFFICKERS SHOWER UP IN MIAMI FRIDAY AND DENIED THE ALLEGATIONS.

A Dominican military general accused of ties to drug traffickers showed up
in Miami Friday and denied the allegations.


Washington’s efforts to combat narco-corruption in the region reached the
highest levels of government in the Dominican Republic, where two military
generals close to the president lost their visas to travel to the United
States due to alleged ties to drug traffickers.


President Leonel Fernández’ top military adviser Héctor Medina Medina and
border security chief General Manuel de Jesus Florentino Florentino lost
travel visas under the rule that allows the government to target officials
suspected of corruption, a U.S. government official confirmed.


In at least one case, the high-ranking military leader was returned to the
Dominican Republic after arriving in the United States, the source said.
One of the generals lost his rights to visit as long as a year ago, but the
information surfaced this week amid a heated presidential campaign where the
first lady is a candidate for vice president.
The news, first reported Tuesday by Univision television network, said that
two other top Fernández advisers had also lost their travel visas — but
those men arrived in Miami on Friday and denied the account.


“Impossible,” said Gen. Rafael Guzmán, the former national police chief
who serves as a senior presidential security adviser. “On the contrary, I
invite you go to the Dominican Republic to see that under my tenure was when
we decidedly began to combat drug trafficking for the first time in the
history of the Dominican Republic.”

Guzmán was at Florida International University for a presentation about an
anti-crime program he developed with Prof. Eduardo Gamarra, who works
closely with the president. He said he travels frequently to Miami and has never
been questioned about his visa.

While at least one U.S. embassy cable released by WikiLeaks suggested that
diplomats in Santo Domingo felt confident that Guzmán was cracking down on
corrupt police, cables show the embassy had serious concerns about Medina
and Florentino as far back as 2008.


When Medina was up for a promotion to minister of defense, the cable said
his “potential promotion prompted serious U.S. concern.” Medina was not
elevated, but the embassy was dismayed to see him remain as chief of the
Presidential Military Aide’s Corps, where he would “continue to have a powerful
influence on the President’s military decisions.”


More serious concerns were raised about the retired general in charge of
the border, who was a top intelligence official and former secretary of the
armed forces. The embassy had a “frank discussion” with the president “
concerning questions about Florentino’s competence and personal integrity,”
the cable states.

The embassy suggested he had ties to drug trafficker Quirino Paulino, and said working at the Haitian border would present Florentino
with more “opportunities for graft.” The president, the cable said,
suggested it was too politically volatile to move him, and he would do it some
other time.

The Dominican Republic has become a major transshipment point for Colombian
cocaine, which moves through the country with the help of corrupt top
members of the military. Lower level police are often known to control
trafficking on the streets.

Last year, The Miami Herald reported that the Armed Forces had fired 2,300
soldiers in the three prior years, including two generals and six colonels.
The specialized drug police had dismissed more than 400 of the 2,000
officers.

“This situation with the visas of top people in government is very
worrisome,” said Autonomous University of Santo Domingo Prof. Julio De La Rosa,
who runs an anti-corruption civic organization. “The mere suggestion that
people close to the president are under investigation should be enough for him
to separate himself from them. But instead, he does the opposite.”

Fernández attended public events this week with the implicated advisers.
The president’s spokesman Rafael Nunez did not return calls seeking comment.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/24/2659531/dominican-generals-tied-to-drugs.html#storylink=fbuser