Totally true. This person is the portrait of the most primitive and bully behavior within Army. It's a pity that his behavior and comments are still celebrated.

Roxana, totally in agreement with you . The Educational system has failed and continues to do so. Kids cannot identify our national heroes, like Bolognesi, or writers, like Vallejo, as evidenced by a TV show. This includes university students. Shame on the educational system, and even more so on Donayre.

Unfortunately the educational system has done exactly what it has been designed to do. Please examine exhibit A, Charlotte Iserbyt - Deliberate Dumbing Down of the World, a 9 minute video.

It's sad but a fact of life in Lima that there is an identity crisis. Kids don't care about their country or its history.. in fact, this is probably true of Peruvians in general

Totally agree with you Roxanna. To love a country is to give respect to all its people.

I don't usually watch the July parades because I don't like this saber-waving military show-off that our country engage in every year. But this year, while waking up, with the proverbial cup of coffee, I caught this feller, Donayre, on the air. I remembered him to be the one that spoke too much, and got us into diplomatic troubles with Chile some time ago. And on parade day, he somewhat gave some commentaries that more or less reminded me of his anti-Chileanism, although this time more subtly and cleaner perhaps. And yes, his commentary about the sheath and woman comparison made me cringe because he was showing the machismo that is so prevalent in this country. I must admit that I found myself smiling at some of the things he was saying, but at the same time I got this feeling of vicarious embarrassment too. The lady reporter reacted to some of his comments also, although she preferred not to "pull him by the ears." At any rate, it is sad that we have to learn so much in this country. Our culture is so low that it's ridiculous. Teachers do not teach - they throw garbage at mediators that try to get them to stop striking. Teachers talk and they speak so badly that it is painful to listen to them. Imagine what the children learn! And machismo is so ingrained that it is not funny. We have gone from the chacra to the world market without going through the transitional educational and culturing process. Thus we find people that make lots of money and have houses and cars and do not know their history, neither their language. It is depressing to think about it. It is difficult because it is hard to change a culture, or to make it better, more ecological, more humanist, more connected to the global reality. Everyone blames education, but it is more than that: our culture is alienated (to use a psychoanalytical term); it has been broken on the way of our growth as a country, and we have become atrophied. Just watch half an hour of news and we can see how primitive we really are, and we applaud those who show this troglodyte mental make-up in public behind their disguises of congressmen, generals, teachers and even reporters. It is really a pity!

Thank you for all your comments, they are much appreciated and I am happy to know I am not alone in this! I do not watch the news or hardly any peruvian TV except the Government channel and another one that have quite interesting programs. I watched the video recommended by one of you and I found it interesting. It reminded me of the film 'Detachment' with Adrien Brody which questions the American Public Éducation system, a very good film with an excellent interpretation by the actor who also played in 'The Pianist'.

I thought Gnl Donayre was a true patriot and a legitimate soldier of the Peruvian Armed Forces. However, his comments fall nothing less than being sexist and down right vulgar to say the least. We all deserve respect and this man is just a complete....., well, he is an A..HOLE!! What a shame!! for crying out loud.... Jaime E Rivera

Thoughtful article - thank you

Another great article by Roxana Garmendia showing all of us the way towards a Peru where comments like those made by a GENERAL, or anyone for that matter, are NOT FUNNY but rahter are totally unacceptable and for all the reasons she elucidated. He should hang his head in shame, apologize sincerely and move on to much better communication skills. I hope that he doesn't have any children because he is among the worst of role models and Peruvians have a right to expect more from those who are educated, are in positions of authority and who have a public voice.