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Janitor’s secret past: a death squad
LA Times ^ | 10.26.06 | Hector Becerra

Posted on 10/28/2006 10:20:22 AM PDT by Coleus

Gonzalo Guevara Cerritos was a decorated, American-trained officer in the Salvadoran army. But for the last year, the 43-year-old toiled as a janitor at a West Los Angeles-area motel, a man with a secret who was always looking over his shoulder, his girlfriend said. His clandestine existence came to an end Wednesday, when federal authorities announced that they had arrested him as an illegal immigrant who was a human rights violator.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Guevara Cerritos was one of nine Salvadoran officers and soldiers implicated in one of the most notorious massacres in El Salvador's history: the 1989 death squad murders of six Jesuit priests whom some in the army viewed as subversives. A sublieutenant with the Atlacatl Battalion during El Salvador's war against the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, a leftist guerrilla group, Guevara Cerritos was convicted for his role in the slayings.

In 1993, he received a pardon as part of a general amnesty that was granted after the country's 12-year civil war. His girlfriend, Eusebia Mejia, 45, said Guevara Cerritos could never escape the shadow of the massacre and fled to the United States in hopes of a new start. But when he arrived in Los Angeles — home to more than 250,000 Salvadorans — he quickly realized he would not find peace. Fearing that someone would recognize him on the streets of Los Angeles, he kept his head down and rarely went out.

"He was a real homebody," said Mejia, of Watts, who has lived in L.A. for 11 years and met Guevara Cerritos after he arrived in the city. "For him, it was from home to work, and from work to home. And every Sunday to church." But the strategy apparently didn't work: Federal authorities said it was a tip from

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: US: California
KEYWORDS: schooloftheamericas

1 posted on 10/28/2006 10:20:24 AM PDT by Coleus
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Comment #2 Removed by Moderator

To: Coleus

Was he pardoned or not? I understand that he was arrested as an illegal immigrant, and that's great. But it looks like the LA Times is trying to make more of this than it is. He was found to have not fired any shots, sentenced to 2 years house arrest, and later pardoned. Right?


3 posted on 10/28/2006 10:30:58 AM PDT by Jaysun (Let's not ruin this moment with words.)
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To: mtbopfuyn
Being a former death squad member isn't so much the problem as is being a former right wing death squad member.

Former right wing death squad members are immediately returned home to face trial, former left wing death squad members get a CIS hearing.

4 posted on 10/28/2006 10:31:31 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: mtbopfuyn

Well, he may be an illegal but - given that there are twelve million - he sounds like one of the good ones. I'd vote to let him stay over the guys clustered in front of the Home Depot.


5 posted on 10/28/2006 10:34:07 AM PDT by furquhart (Time for a New Crusade - Deus lo Volt!)
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To: furquhart

Liberation Theology was the motivating factor. The Jesuits were practicing Christianity with a Marxist flair. The key work is "Marxist", hence, the Janitor was anti Marxist, therefore, he's in deep doo doo. .


6 posted on 10/28/2006 10:50:48 AM PDT by Bringbackthedraft
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To: Coleus

For later.


7 posted on 10/28/2006 11:22:58 AM PDT by happinesswithoutpeace (You are receiving this broadcast as a dream)
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To: Coleus

If they were "Jebbies", they were subversives.


8 posted on 10/28/2006 11:42:37 AM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: Coleus
Who said the Times are a changen

Ten paragraphs describing this decorated veteran before admitting he was arrested because the US has laws against illegal immigration.

Even then they wouldn't admit his immigration status but implied his arrest was for human rights violations.

Same old Slimes.

9 posted on 10/28/2006 11:49:13 AM PDT by Amerigomag
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To: Coleus
Image hosted by Photobucket.com IIRC, the Atlacatl Battalion was their Premier Unit and was always smeared in the press.

that said, it always amazed me that the church would side with the Commie GodHater that would kill them FIRST if they ever came to power.

10 posted on 10/28/2006 12:09:02 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
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To: Coleus
But when he arrived in Los Angeles — home to more than 250,000 Salvadorans — he quickly realized he would not find peace. Fearing that someone would recognize him on the streets of Los Angeles, he kept his head down and rarely went out.

That's right, move to the area with the highest concentration of foreign-born Hispanics in the world and hope you won't be recognized. What a genius. Hawaii! Wisconsin! Anywhere but Los Angeles.

11 posted on 10/28/2006 1:35:49 PM PDT by John Jorsett (scam never sleeps)
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Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: skeeter
The El Salvadorans in Najaf in 2004 kept down Al Sadr and the Mahdi for months before the US 3rd AD arrived. This remains un-reported in the Iraq war.

I worked with a unit that had soldiers attached to the El Sav HQ for comms support when the Insurgency kicked off Easter Sunday, 2004. The El Savs repulsed mutilple human wave assaults on Camps Baker and Golf during the following months until the 3rd AD arrived. They had a certain tactic after each assault. Once the attackers withdrew they would pile into the backs of Chevy pickups and head into Najaf. They would sit back-to-back on a plywood bench down the length of the truck bed. A railing and a small metal shield were above the truck rails. They would ride a squad-per-truck through the streets of Najaf looking for the Mahdi. They'd point-to and taunt anyone looking out a window and shoot anyone with a weapon. When everything was quiet they'd return to camp.

During that period I made several work trips to Najaf and saw the El Savs, only once in action though when they put down a riot at the front gate post haste. I remember one El Sav civilian bodyguard in particular. He was maybe 5'6 and probably 250 lbs of muscle. He was in a PSD outfit and had an MP5, an M-16 over the back, .45 pistol, a pistol belt and LBE full of vaious ammo clips, with 4 fragmentation grenades, a 200-rnd belt of 5.56 over his shoulder and a (mf-ing) 2-foot machete on left hip opposite the .45! On top of it all he had a sincere yet serious smile and a quiet demeanor. Straight-up killer.

The 3rd AD used M1s and helicopters to push the Mahdi out of Najaf late that Summer. It took them several weeks. The El Savs not only kept the Mahdi down for 6 months before that but had seriously de-populated it using just rifles, grenades and pickup trucks.

The El Savs in Najaf WERE the Deathsquads. And that's what we called them. And you know how many were in Najaf during that period? Less than 300. They lost only 3.

13 posted on 10/28/2006 2:50:01 PM PDT by Justa (Politically Correct is morally wrong.)
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To: Justa

Wow. Our brass could use a little of that attitude.


14 posted on 10/28/2006 5:33:02 PM PDT by skeeter
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