- The Civil Guard explodes due to the dismissal of De los Cobos
General Laurentino Ceña, Deputy Director of the Civil Guard and one of the most visible faces of the government’s expert inter-ministerial committee for the coronavirus crisis, has resigned in an appearance before the Interior Ministry this morning.
He has done so just 24 hours after learning of the dismissal of Colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos for refusing to share information about the judicial investigation of 8-M, for which the Government delegate, José Manuel Franco, has been charged.
General Ceña confirmed his resignation on Tuesday morning, just one day after the dismissal of his subordinate and head of the Madrid Command, Diego Pérez, was made by Interior Minister Marlaska
Ceña has been one of the members of the technical committee who participated in the daily press conferences due to the state of alarm. He stopped doing it after contracting the coronavirus himself, giving way to the Chief of Staff of the Civil Guard, General Santiago.
The number 1 of the Civil Guard
The DAO Ceña was actually the number one officer in the Civil Guard with the highest responsibility, since the general director is civilian and appointed directly by the Government.
Although General Ceña was going to retire he has now brough forward his departure from the top position. Civil Guard sources directly link his “irrevocable” resignation with the dismissal of Colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos, by the Minister of the Interior.
SEE ALSO: The Civil Guard explodes at the dismissal of De los Cobos
Pérez de los Cobos was removed from his position as head of the Madrid Command after the Ministry asked him for information on the cause of 8-M, which is currently the subject of an investigation by the Madrid courts, and in which he is directly involved as an investigating officer.
The case is secret and Judge Carmen Rodríguez-Medel has demanded that the Civil Guard do not release any information. However De los Cobos was asked to provide information to the ministry and when he refused he was dismissed.
Shortly afterwards, the judge announced the summons of José Manuel Franco, the government delegate in Madrid and the person responsible for authorising the 8-M marches in the capital in which 120,000 people took part.
The dismissal of Pérez de los Cobos, was received by the Guardia hierarchy like a timebomb since he was a significant figure in the organisation: it was he who coordinated the entire security operation deployed in Catalonia during the weeks before and after the separatist referendum in 2017.
