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SIZE MATTERS: GUATEMALAN ARMY TO SHRINK.

Article Excerpt
The Guatemalan Army will soon be a lot smaller. Reports differ on the size of the cuts, but the budget, number of bases, and troop strength will shrink on the order of from one-third to one-half. "This unprecedented historic act consists of the beginning of the substantial modernization and transformation of the Army of Guatemala, to adapt it to the new times of peace," said President Oscar Berger.

Speaking at a ceremony before an audience of high-ranking military officers and members of the international diplomatic corps, Berger said that, prior to June 30, the armed forces would be reduced to 15,500 troops from the present 23,000, an approximate 35% reduction. The military budget will be fixed at 0.33% of GDP from now on.

"The times of armed conflict are, definitely and fortunately, things of the past, so the Army needs a different conception of its functions," said the president. The ceremony was convened at the National Palace of Culture for this announcement. Berger staked out his place in history just a few months after his Jan. 9 inauguration when he declared the end of institutional violence as an instrument of political power.

Berger is the first president in recent history to even dare to speak in public of a proposal like this, but he said he felt no fear of reprisals from the military, and he tried to lay to rest any fears in the audience that this initiative would compromise the governability of the country (see NotiCen, 1998-02-05).

Retired Gen. Otto Perez Molina, Berger's presidential commissioner for defense and security, said troop strength would be reduced by 12,109 through a combination of voluntary retirement and elimination of positions. Bases will be reduced to five--Peten, Huehuetenango, Suchitepequez, Jutiapa, and Guatemala City.

Defense Minister Cesar Augusto Mendez Pinelo said committees would be formed to decide what to do with decommissioned military assets, including but not limited to the munitions factory, the Escuela Politecnica, and the Adolfo V Hall military school.

The cost of the massive demobilization will be about US$50 million. About US$37.5 million will go for severance pay. Berger said...