Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez (2 April 1942[1] – 6 January 2023) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who commanded Death Squads during the Salvadoran Civil War.
Sigifredo Ochoa | |
|---|---|
| Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador | |
| In office 1 May 2012 – 30 April 2015 | |
| Ambassador of El Salvador to Honduras | |
| In office 2005–2009 | |
| President | Antonio Saca Mauricio Funes |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez 2 April 1942 El Salvador |
| Died | 6 January 2023 (aged 80) San Juan Opico, El Salvador |
| Political party | Nationalist Republican Alliance |
| Other political affiliations | Salvadoran Democracy |
| Occupation | Military officer, politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  El Salvador |
| Branch/service | Salvadoran Army |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | Salvadoran Civil War |
Biography
editSigifredo Ochoa Pérez was born in El Salvador on 2 April 1942.[2] He was a colonel in the Salvadoran Army during the Salvadoran Civil War.[3] According to declassified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Ochoa allegedly was a commanding officer of the El Calabozo massacre which killed over 200 people in 1982.[4][5]
He was also accused of leading the Santa Cruz massacre the year prior,[6][7] including by Philippe Bourgois.[8]
As a member of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), Ochoa served as El Salvador's ambassador to Honduras under President Antonio Saca from 2005 to 2009. Ochoa was dismissed from his position by President Mauricio Funes after he accepted an award from the Honduran government which deposed President Manuel Zelaya, which Funes' government did not recognize at the time. He later served as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2015. He later left the party and joined Salvadoran Democracy (DS).[3]
In June 2022, he was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for misappropriating US$41,040 while being an ambassador.[5]
Ochoa died in a traffic accident in San Juan Opico on 6 January 2023, at the age of 80.[2]
References
edit- ^ "Imágenes para recordar la trayectoria del Coronel Sigfredo Ochoa Pérez".
- ^ a b Cañenguez, David (6 January 2023). "Coronel Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Murió Tras Accidente en Desvío a San Juan Opico" [Colonel Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Died In a Traffic Accident in San Juan Opico] (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Muere Militar y Exembajador de El Salvador Señalado de Masacre Durante Guerra" [Military Officer and Ex-Ambassador of El Salvador Implicated in Civil War Massacre Dies]. Swiss Info (in Spanish). San Salvador, El Salvador. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ Genoves, Alessia (7 January 2023). "Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Muere con Condenas y Acusaciones" [Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Dies with Condemnations and Accusations]. Contra Punto (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Pasará 8 Años en la Cárcel por Apropiarse de Fondos Públicos" [Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Will Serve 8 Years Imprisonment for Appropriating Public Funds]. Contra Punto (in Spanish). 29 June 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
- ^ "The CIA is still refusing to release its files on this alleged war criminal". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 17 June 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ "God Alone was with Us: The Santa Cruz Massacre". Unfinished Sentences. Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law. 23 February 2015. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ Presidential certification on El Salvador: hearings before the Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, second session. Washington: United States Government Publishing Office. 1982. Archived from the original on 2 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2023.