Reuters AlertNet Lite - Salvadoran in 1989 Jesuit massacre arrested in US

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Salvadoran in 1989 Jesuit massacre arrested in US

26 Oct 2006 19:27:22 GMT
Source: Reuters

LOS ANGELES, Oct 26 (Reuters) - A former El Salvadoran army officer convicted of taking part in the 1989 massacre of eight people including six Jesuit priests was arrested in Los Angeles and faces deportation, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

Gonzalo Guevara, 43, was arrested at a motel last week following a tip from the public. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said he entered the United States illegally in January 2005 and is in custody awaiting a deportation hearing.

"We will not allow the United States to be a place of refuge for aliens seeking to escape a violent criminal past," said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in Los Angeles.

"Removing human rights violators and other persecutors from the United States is one of ICE's top enforcement priorities," Schoch said.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Guevara had been working as a janitor at a motel in Los Angeles and that he rarely went out for fear of being recognized.

Los Angeles is home to some 250,000 Salvadorans, many of whom fled to the United States during the Central American country's 12-year civil war that saw the U.S. government support the right-wing Salvadoran government and its army.

More than 75,000 people were killed during the 1980-1992 conflict, including 17 priests, most murdered for their leftist political views.

Guevara, an army lieutenant, was one of nine Salvadoran military officers tried and convicted in El Salvador for the 1989 killings. He was freed in 1993 under an amnesty.

Five Spanish Jesuit priests, a Salvadoran Jesuit, their housekeeper and her teen-age daughter were dragged from their beds and shot dead on the lawn of a residence at San Salvador Jesuit University during a guerrilla offensive at the height of the civil war.

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Last updated:Thu Oct 26 19:30:07 2006