Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova
Encyclopedia
Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova was head of the Salvadoran
national guard
and later defense minister. He was sued in the federal civil court of Miami, Florida
in the United States
in two precedent-setting cases. The cases are referred to by the surname of his co-defendant, José Guillermo García
:
After his first wife died, Vides married Lourdes Llach, daughter of coffee baron, amateur astronomer, and former Salvadoran ambassador to the Holy See
(1977–1991) Prudencio Llach Schonenberg.
On October 6, 2009 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it initiated deportation proceedings against General Vides Casanova for assisting in the torture of Salvadoran civilians.
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
national guard
National Guard (El Salvador)
The Guardia Nacional of El Salvador was the Salvadoran gendarmerie. It was founded in 1912 by President Dr. Manuel Enrique Araujo. As agreed in the Chapultepec Peace Accords, it was disbanded on 16 January 1992...
and later defense minister. He was sued in the federal civil court of Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in two precedent-setting cases. The cases are referred to by the surname of his co-defendant, José Guillermo García
José Guillermo García
José Guillermo García is former general of the military of El Salvador and was minister of defense during the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador. He emigrated to the United States in 1989. He was sued, along with Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, in the United States district court in...
:
- Ford v. Garcia, a lawsuit by the families of four Catholic churchwomen who were murdered by a Salvadoran military death squadDeath squadA death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
on December 2, 1980. The defense won the case, and the families appealed. Their appeal was denied, and in 2003, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear further proceedings. - Ramagoza v. Garcia, a lawsuit by survivors of torture during the Salvadoran Civil War, including Carlos MauricioCarlos MauricioCarlos Mauricio was a professor of Agricultural Sciences at the University of El Salvador until his extrajudicial kidnapping by Salvadoran death squads in June 1983. He was tortured by the military under the command of then Minister of Defense, General Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova. On his...
and Neris Gonzalez. Garcia and Vides lost, and a judgment of over $54 million (U.S.) was entered against them, and upheld on appeal.
After his first wife died, Vides married Lourdes Llach, daughter of coffee baron, amateur astronomer, and former Salvadoran ambassador to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
(1977–1991) Prudencio Llach Schonenberg.
On October 6, 2009 the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it initiated deportation proceedings against General Vides Casanova for assisting in the torture of Salvadoran civilians.
See also
- Maura ClarkeMaura ClarkeSister Maura Clarke, M.M., was an American Roman Catholic Maryknoll Sister, who served as a missionary in Nicaragua and El Salvador. She worked with the poor and refugees in Central America from 1959 until her death in 1980...
- Jean DonovanJean DonovanJean Donovan was an American lay missionary who was murdered with three nuns in El Salvador by a military death squad while volunteering to do charity work during the civil war there.-Life:...
- Ita FordIta FordIta Ford, M.M. was a Roman Catholic Maryknoll Sister missionary to Bolivia, Chile and El Salvador. She worked with the poor and war refugees. On December 2, 1980, she was tortured, raped, and murdered, along with fellow missionaries Maura Clarke, M.M., laywoman Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel,...
- Dorothy KazelDorothy KazelDorothy Kazel was an American Ursuline nun and missionary to El Salvador. On December 2, 1980, she and fellow missionaries Ita Ford, Jean Donovan and Maura Clarke were raped and murdered by members of the military of El Salvador.-Life and work:Kazel was born Dorthea Lu Kazel to Lithuanian American...
- Salvadoran Civil War
External links
- Ford v. Garcia Trial Background. Legal history section of PBS website on "Justice and the Generals" presentation in 2002. Accessed October 7, 2005; confirmed online December 11, 2006.
- Report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador (1993) accessed online December 9, 2006.