Defense Minister Quits After Spats With Brass
Colombia’s first woman defense minister abruptly quit, ending a one-year tenure marked by feuds with the military.
President Alvaro Uribe accepted Martha Lucia Ramirez’s resignation and named a U.S.-educated businessman, Jorge Alberto Uribe, to replace her. He is no relation to the president.
Ramirez clashed openly with Colombia’s generals and accused them of hiding information from her. She had made allegations of corruption in the military and dismissed commanders she said were not pursuing the country’s rebels aggressively enough.
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