Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova (born 1937) is the former head of the Salvadoran

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between the years 1979 and 1983 and later served as the nation's Minister of Defense between 1983 and 1989. In 1984, four national guardsmen who had once served under Vides Casanova's command-Daniel Canales Ramírez, Carlos Joaquín Contreras Palacios, Francisco Orlando Contreras Recinos and José Roberto Moreno Canjura—were convicted of murdering of the churchwomen and were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Their superior, sub-sergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Alemán, was also convicted for the murders as well. In 1998, the four assassins confessed to abducting, raping and murdering the four churchwomen and claimed that they did so because Alemân had informed them that they had to act on orders from high-level military officers. Some were then released from prison after detailing how Vides and his cousin Col. Óscar Edgardo Casanova Vejar, the local military commander in Zacatecoluca, had planned and orchestrated the executions of the churchwomen. A 16-year legal battle to deport General Vides Casanova soon commenced.

Emigration to the United States

Following his retirement, General Vides left El Salvador and moved to Florida in 1989 as a legal permanent resident and had been living in Palm Coast. After his first wife died, Vides married Lourdes Llach, daughter of coffee baron, amateur astronomer, and former Salvadoran ambassador to the

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(1977–1991) Prudencio Llach Schonenberg.

Lawsuit cases

He was sued in the federal civil court of

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in the

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in two precedent-setting cases. The cases are referred to by the surname of his co-defendant,

José Guillermo García 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. Emigration to United States He emi ...

: * ''Ford v. Garcia'', a lawsuit by the families of four Catholic churchwomen who were abducted, raped and murdered by a Salvadoran military

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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 The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

refused to hear further proceedings. * '' Ramagoza v. Garcia'', a lawsuit by survivors of torture during the Salvadoran Civil War, including Carlos Mauricio and Neris Gonzalez. Garcia and Vides lost, and a judgment of over $54 million (U.S.) was entered against them, and upheld on appeal.

Deportation to El Salvador

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. On 24 February 2012, a Federal immigration judge cleared the way for his deportation. On March 11, 2015, the

Board of Immigration Appeals The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is an administrative appellate body within the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the United States Department of Justice responsible for reviewing decisions of the U.S. immigration courts and cert ...

dismissed General Vides Casanova's appeal. On April 8, 2015, U.S. immigration officials deported General Vides Casanova to El Salvador. The lawsuit filed against Vides Casanova and General García was featured in the 2018 film "The Path of the Shadows".

References

External links

"The Path of The Shadows" Film
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.
Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vides Casanova, Carlos Eugenio Salvadoran military personnel 1937 births People from Santa Ana, El Salvador Living people People of the Salvadoran Civil War Government ministers of El Salvador People from Palm Coast, Florida 1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador Defence ministers of El Salvador

Emigration to the United States

Lawsuit cases

Deportation to El Salvador

See also

References

External links