Argentina sacks navy chief over submarine tragedy
Argentina dismissed its naval chief on Saturday, the most high-profile officer to be fired a month after a submarine went missing with 44 crew members on board.
"The defense minister asked him to retire. It's a political decision," a navy officer told AFP on condition of anonymity about the decision to remove Admiral Marcelo Srur during an ongoing investigation into the sub's disappearance.
Srur is the fifth senior officer to have been relieved of his functions so far over the ARA San Juan's disappearance.
Military sources say President Mauricio Macri is willing to retire most of the naval leadership.
The government is also creating an internal investigative commission that will be headed by retired captain Jorge Bergallo, father of the ARA San Juan's second commander, Jorge Ignacio Bergallo, government sources told state news agency Telam.
An international search operation has so far failed to locate the vessel. The 43 men and one woman who were aboard are believed to have died in the tragedy.
But families of the missing have pressed the government to continue the search, which has not yet been officially closed.
Some relatives claim the navy has been hiding information, and have called for a parliamentary investigation. On Friday, they protested in Mar del Plata, where the submarine was based, and Buenos Aires.
Relatives have focused their anger on the condition of the three-decade-old sub, which had undergone a seven-year refit to extend its service, and the navy's guardedness since the start of the search operation.
The navy has a poor reputation in Argentina. During the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, some navy units served as detention and torture centers, and an estimated 30,000 people disappeared.
