José Guillermo García
Encyclopedia
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 West Palm Beach in two precedent-setting legal actions:
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...
and was minister of defense during the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador
Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador
The Revolutionary Government ruled El Salvador between October 15, 1979 and May 2, 1982. It contained two colonels, Adolfo Arnaldo Majano Ramos and Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez Avendaño, and three civilians, Guillermo Ungo, Mario Antonio Andino and Román Mayorga Quirós.The JRG ousted President Carlos...
. He emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1989. He was sued, along with Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova
Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova
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:*...
, in the United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
in West Palm Beach in two precedent-setting legal actions:
- FordWilliam P. FordWilliam P. Ford was the brother of Ita Ford, and an advocate for his sister and the people of El Salvador.-Legal career:He graduated from Fordham College in 1960, and later received his law degree from St. John's University. Originally, he worked for the law firm of Mudge Rose, and later formed...
v. Garcia, a lawsuit by the families of four Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, 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. Garcia's 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 filed by the Center for Justice and AccountabilityCenter for Justice and AccountabilityThe Center for Justice and Accountability is a non-profit international human rights organization based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1998, CJA represents survivors of torture and other grave human rights abuses in cases against individual rights violators before U.S. and Spanish courts...
on behalf survivors of torture during the Salvadoran Civil War. Garcia lost, and a judgment of over $54 million (U.S.) was entered against him and his co-defendant, and upheld on appeal.
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
- Center for Justice and AccountabilityCenter for Justice and AccountabilityThe Center for Justice and Accountability is a non-profit international human rights organization based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1998, CJA represents survivors of torture and other grave human rights abuses in cases against individual rights violators before U.S. and Spanish courts...