| COL Julio Roberto Alpírez | 1989, Command and General Staff College 1970, Combat Arms and Support Services |
Torture, extrajudicial execution, 1992: A paid agent of
the CIA, Alpírez supervised the prolonged torture of Efrain
Bámaca Velásquez, husband of U.S. lawyer Jennifer
Harbury, and his execution. Assassination, 1990: Six months after graduating from the SOA's most prestigious course, while still on the CIA payroll, Alpírez ordered the murder of U.S. citizen Michael Devine. (NYT, 3/23/96) |
| GEN Julio Arnoldo Balconi Turcios | 1983, Command and General Staff College | Disavows basic human rights principle, 1993: In an interview with Americas Watch in October 1993, Balconi defended the actions of one of Guatemala's infamous civil patrols. which had nearly killed a guerrilla after capturing him. In defiance of the Geneva convention, Balconi stated that guerrilla prisoners "lost" their rights simply by being guerrillas. (AW:HIG) |
| GEN Manuel Antonio Callejas y Callejas | 1988, SOA Hall of Fame 1970, Command and General Staff College |
Assassinations: Under brutal dictator Lucas Garcia in the early eighties, Callejas was a senior intelligence officer in charge of choosing targets of assassination. Under Cerezo, was Armed Forces Chief of Staff, with Héctor Gramajo as Defense Minister. |
| *COL Juan Chajon Perez | 1971, Auto Maintenance for Officers | Corruption, 1996: Removed from his post in a 1996 purge by the Arzu government. It is widely believed that this purge was designed to remove corrupt officers involved in drug- and illegal wood-trafficking. The purge occurred shortly before "The Role of the Military in Civilian Society" was discussed as part of the peace negotiations. (CERIGUA) |
| *COL Hugo Rolando de la Cruz Mendez | 1973, 0-26 | Harboring Car Thieves: Suspended from duty in February 1996 for harboring fugitive car thieves in his Guatemala City home. |
| COL Morris Eugenio De Leon Gil | 1988-90, Guest Instructor 1988, Command and General Staff College 1970, Combat Arms/Support Services |
Publicly denounced humanitarian, 1994: When Rosalina Tuyuc received a French Legion of Honor Award in 1994 for her humanitarian work in Guatemala, DeLeon publicly denounced her and members of her family, which in Guatemala is often tantamount to a death threat. |
| GEN José Domingo García Samayoa | 1975, Infantry Officer Advanced Course | Attempted coup, 1993: One of three top Guatemalan officers (all SOA graduates) who supported former President Serrano's auto-coup attempt. (WOLA 9/29/93) |
| GEN Edgar Godoy Gaitán | 1987, Command and General Staff College 1975, Military Intelligence Course |
Assassination, 1991: Strongly implicated in the assassination of Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack. Godoy Gaitán, a former chief of Guatemalan military intelligence, was once on the CIA payroll. (Allan Nairn, The Nation 4/17/95; AW:HIG) |
| Colonel Francisco Luis Gordillo Martínez | 1974, Command and General Staff College 1961, Infantry Weapons 1961, Infantry Tactics |
Violent coup, 1982: Gordillo aided General Efrain Rios Monti in the violent overthrow of the Guatemalan government in 1982, an event which initiated a period of immense brutality on the part of the military toward the poor and indigenous peoples of the Guatemalan countryside. (NYT, 5/28/95) |
| GEN Héctor Gramajo | 1991, Guest Speaker | Genocide, 1980-1991: Architect of genocidal policies which essentially legalized military atrocity in Guatemala throughout the eighties. (HAH) Found guilty by default of numerous war crimes in a U.S. Court six weeks before speaking at a prestigious SOA graduation. (The Bayonet, 1/3/92) Former SOA Commandant José Feliciano claimed Gramajo inspired many SOA policies. (The Benning Patriot 2/21/92) |
| GEN Manuel Benedicto Lucas Garcia | 1970, Command and General Staff College 1965, Combat Intelligence Course |
Former Army Chief of Staff and brother to brutal dictator Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia described the G-2 (military intelligence) under his command as such: "If the G-2 wants to kill you, they kill you. They send one of their trucks with a hit squad and that's it." (Allan Nairn, The Nation, 4/17/95) |
| COL José Luis Fernández Ligorria | 1989, Command and General Staff | Trafficking in arms, drugs, and stolen vehicles, 1988: The Mexican newspaper La Crónica de Hoy reported on January 3, 1998, that Fernández Ligorria was accused in 1995 of organizing an international vehicle theft ring, and trafficking in arms and cocaine since 1988. |
| COL Mario A Mérida González | 1985, Combat Arms Advanced Course 1970, Combat Arms and Services Course |
Pattern of brutality, 1994: On January 1, 1995, Guatemalan president De Leon Carpio reassigned Mérida, then Vice-Minister of Governance, following several high profile cases of police brutality and impunity, including the murder of a 22-year-old college student and the death of Belgian priest Alfonso Stessel. |
| COL Luis Felippe Miranda | 1985, Command and General Staff College | "Escape" of CPT Hugo Roberto Contreras, 1993: In May 1993, only hours after being convicted of murdering U.S. citizen Michael Devine, Contreras escaped" from a military prison under the command of Colonel Miranda, who was subsequently promoted to general. (HRWWR94) |
| LTC Otto Noack Sierra | 1988-90, Guest Instructor 1987, Combat Arms Officer Adv. Course 1973, Officer Cadet Training |
Commenting on Jennifer Harbury's fast in Guatemala in 1994 he scoffed, "An American lawyer fall in love with a Guatemalan Indian? I do not believe the history." (People Magazine, 11/14/94) |
| MAJ Juan Guillermo Oliva | 1991, Command and General Staff College | Assassination. 1991: Implicated in the 1991 assassination of Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack. (AW:HIG) |
| GEN Luis Francisco Ortega Menaldo | 1973, Military Intelligence Course | Attempted coup, 1993: One of three top Guatemalan officers (all SOA graduates) regarded as the most critical and prominent supporters of Serrano's May 25, 1993 auto-coup. (WOLA, 9/29/93) Was head of G-2 (military intelligence) and on the CIA payroll in the late 1980's during a series of assassinations of students, peasants, and human rights activists. Currently works in Washington as general staff director at the Pentagon-backed Inter-American Defense Board. (Allan Nairn, The Nation, 4/17/95) |
| COL Otto Perez Molina | 1985, Command and General Staff College (Commandant's List) | Assassination, 1994: Chief of the G-2 (military intelligence) and on the payroll of the CIA, Perez Molina was in charge in 1994, when the General Staff was implicated in the assassination of Judge Edgar Ramiro Elías Ogaldez. (Allan Nairn, The Nation, 4/17/95) |
| GEN Jorge Roberto Perussina Rivera | 1974, Command and General Staff College 1973, Tactical Officer, Cadet Course |
Attempted coup, 1993: One of three top Guatemalan officers (all SOA graduates) regarded as the most critical and prominent supporters of Serrano's May 25, 1993 auto-coup. (WOLA 9/29/93) |
| MAJ Mario Sosa Orellana | 1990, Officer Administration Course | Torture, extrajudicial execution, 1992: Implicated in the torture and extrajudicial execution of Efrain Bámaca Velásquez, husband of Jennifer Harbury. (NCR 6/2/95) A former soldier also accuses Sosa Orellana of ordering the execution of a Guatemalan army soldier so that Bámaca's grave could be faked. |
| LTC Julio Alberto Soto Bilbao | 1991, Command and General Staff College 1990, Training Management Officer Course 1974, Basic Combat/Counterinsurgency Course |
Torture, extrajudicial execution, 1992: Implicated by former prisoner Santiago Cabrera Lopez in the Efrain Bámaca Velásquez case. Cabrera Lopez was the last friend to see Bámaca alive - but transfigured by torture - in a prison camp run by Julio Roberto Alpírez (above). |
Information researched by Vicky Imerman.