Jump to content

José Guillermo García

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brigadier General
José Guillermo García
Minister of National Defense
In office
15 October 1979 – April 1983
PresidentRevolutionary Government Junta (until 1982)
Álvaro Magaña (from 1982)
Preceded byFederico Castillo Yanes
Succeeded byCarlos Eugenio Vides Casanova
Personal details
Born (1933-06-25) 25 June 1933 (age 91)
San Vicente, El Salvador
OccupationMilitary
Known forHuman rights violations
Military service
Allegiance El Salvador
Branch/serviceSalvadoran Army
RankBrigadier General El Salvador Brigadier General
Battles/wars1979 Salvadoran coup d'état
Salvadoran Civil War

José Guillermo García (born 25 June 1933) is a former general of the military of El Salvador and was minister of defense of the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador between the years 1979 and 1983.[1]

Emigration to United States

[edit]

He emigrated to the United States in 1989, where he lived until January 2016 until he was deported to El Salvador.

Lawsuit cases

[edit]

He was sued, along with Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, in the United States district court in West Palm Beach[2] in two precedent-setting legal actions:

Deportation to El Salvador

[edit]

Guillermo García and General Vides Casanova had been undergoing a deportation process since 1999.[5] The Department of Homeland Security later charged García in 2009 with participating or assisting in torture and extrajudicial killings during his tenure as Minister of Defense.[5] His attorney Alina Cruz argued that he could not be deported on those grounds because he was already exonerated of those charges in the landmark case Ford vs. Garcia when a jury found that he was not in control of his troops. It was determined in 1998 that García's co-defendant General Vides Casanova and Casanova's cousin Col. Oscar Edgardo Casanova Vejar, the local military commander in Zacatecoluca, had planned and orchestrated the executions of the four North American churchwomen.[6]

On 12 April 2014, an immigration court judge ruled against García and called for his deportation.[7] On 16 December 2015, it was announced that an immigration appeals court upheld the decision to deport Garcia.[8] Garcia's attorney afterwards said they both plan to appeal the decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]

On 8 January 2016, American immigration officials deported General García back to El Salvador.[9][10]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Former Salvadoran defense minister's deportation upheld | Miami Herald". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2015-12-26.
  2. ^ Washington Post 17 August 2003 The Case Against the Generals[1]
  3. ^ Gonzales, David (24 July 2002). "Torture Victims in El Salvador Are Awarded $54 Million". New York Times (24 July 2002).
  4. ^ "El Salvador Generals Guilty of Torture". BBC News. 2002-07-23. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  5. ^ a b "U.S. Court: Removal of General Garcia – CJA".
  6. ^ Larry Rother (3 April 1998). "4 Salvadorans Say They Killed U.S. Nuns on Orders of Military". New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  7. ^ Preston, Julia (12 April 2014). "Salvadoran General Accused in Killings Should be Deported, Miami Judge Says". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Preston, Julia (17 December 2015). "Deportation of Former Salvadoran Official is Upheld". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Preston, Julia (9 January 2016). "Florida: Ex-Leader of Salvadoran Military Deported". The New York Times.
  10. ^ "CJA : Former Salvadoran Minister of Defense General Garcia Removed from the United States". Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved 2016-01-25.