Patino confirms that military effectively trained civilians
Defense Minister Ricardo Patino said that the soldiers who participated in an alleged paramilitary training course for government supporters so that they can confront opposition protests, which appeared in videos posted social networks, were already identified.
During an interview with the director of the government daily, The Telegraph, Orlando Perez, and broadcast by Ecuador TV, Patino said yesterday: “That (the training) was made a year ago; It has nothing to do with me. These two military men indeed, have been identified, and there will be a disciplinary process, because they had no authorization and no military can give any training or teach anything, however we call it, without permission from their superiors.”
When asked if they did it in their own initiative, the minister replied: “We do not know it yet; The Ministry is doing the regular process…..”