Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova
Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova (29 November 1937 – 21 December 2023) was the head of the Salvadoran national guard between the years 1979 and 1983 and later served as the nation's Minister of Defense between 1983 and 1989.
Brigadier General Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova | |
|---|---|
Vides in 2015 | |
| Minister of National Defense | |
| In office April 1983 – May 1989 | |
| President | Álvaro Magaña (until 1984) José Napoleón Duarte (from 1984) |
| Preceded by | José Guillermo García |
| Succeeded by | Rafael Humberto Larios López |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 November 1937 Santa Ana, El Salvador |
| Died | 21 December 2023 (aged 86) San Salvador, El Salvador |
| Spouse | Lourdes Llach |
| Children | María Gema Vides Meléndez, Marta Del Carmen Vides Demmer, Geraldo Vides Meléndez |
| Occupation | Military |
| Known for | Human rights violations (torture) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | El Salvador |
| Branch/service | Salvadoran Army |
| Rank | Brigadier General |
| Battles/wars | 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état Salvadoran Civil War |
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 four American nuns and were sentenced to 30 years in prison. Their superior, sub-sergeant Luis Antonio Colindres Alemán, was also convicted of the murders.
In 1998, the four murderers confessed to abducting, raping and murdering the four nuns and claimed that they did so because Alemán 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 nuns. A 16-year legal battle to deport General Vides Casanova soon commenced.