Name: General Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Took a combat arms course at SOA in 1976 and another course on small military units in 1984
Info: Four out of the six Honduran soldiers who were accused by Honduran officials as responsible for flying President Zelaya out of the country during the June 2009 coup were SOA trained, including General Velasquez, head of the of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran military, who was aided by another SOA graduate, Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo, the head of the Honduran Air Force (who took a 1996 course on joint operations).
Name: Policarpo Paz García, head of the 1980-1982 dictatorial regime
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Communications course, 1956 and General officer course, 1959
Info: “Paz Garcia, whom the U.S. Army installed into SOA’s ‘Hall of Fame’ ten years later. Paz Garcia’s tenure was also marked by brutal military repression and the formation of Battalion 3-16, a military death squad that worked closely with the CIA in targeting suspected leftists in the ’80s. Paz Garcia’s military commander was another SOA grad, Gen. Gustavo Alvarez Martinez, who ran 3-16 and ordered the execution of Fr. James Carney, a U.S. missionary to Honduras.” (National Catholic Reporter, June 2009)
Name: Juan Carlos Bonilla
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Cadet Course, 1992
Info:While he was regional police chief, “El Tigre” Bonilla was accused by an internal affairs report of at least three extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances between 1998 and 2002 and was among several officers suspected in 11 other cases as part of a campaign of social cleansing. While Bonilla was acquitted of one of three charges in 2002, the lead investigator on the report was fired without reason and the rest of the cases were not carried out. Bonilla later became the Director General of the national police force despite implications of involvement in the murder of his predecessor’s son by a death squad.
Name: Milton G. Amaya
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Cadet Course; 1992, Civil Military Operations Course; 1999
Info:Commander of the First Battalion of Engineers who ordered soldiers under his command to deploy to the Agua Zarca dam project to coordinate with the private company which was attempting to impose itself in Lenca territory despite resisitance from the Lenca people, who maintained a multi-month road block to defend their river from the Agua Zarca Project. Under Amaya’s direction the First Battalion of Engineers harassed human rights defender Berta Caceres and one of the soldiers shot and killed community leader Tomas Garcia.
Name: Rene A. Osorio Canales
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses:Combat Arms Officer Advanced Course, 1992
Info: As Commander of the Honduran Armed Forces he attempted to publicly justify the murders of Ebed Yanes in May 2012 and Tomas Garcia in July 2013 by military units.
Name: German Alfaro Escalante
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses:Basic Infantry Course for Officers; 1984
Info: Served as head of Xatruch battalion, which was accused of widespread violent repression throughout Honduras. Alfaro Escalante spread false claims that the peaceful campesino movement in the Bajo Aguan is an armed guerilla force, has intimidated members of the press, and has publicly harassed and endangered international human rights observers.
Name: Gen. Nelson Willy Mejia Mejia
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Basic Officer Qualification; 1975, Instructor; 1996
Info: Served as director of Immigration who was a student and instructor at SOA and received the U.S. Meritorious Service Medal a year before he faced charges for crimes committed while he was an intelligence officer with the infamous death squad Battalion 3-16.
Name: Col. Jesus A Marmol Yanes
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Basic Infantry Course for Officers; 1993, Drill Course for Officers (Distinguished Graduate); 1992, Drill Course for Instructors; 1999
Info: Served as Commander of Operation Lightning and lied to investigators and otherwise obstructed the investigation of the murder of Ebed Yanes.
Name: Lt. Col. Juan Rubén Girón
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Basic Infantry Course for Officers; 1987
Info: Ordered soldiers to remove evidence of the murder of Ebed Yanes and instructed them to obstruct an investigation.
Name: Col. Reynel Funes Ponce
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Basic Infantry Course for Officers; 1984
Info: As Commander of the First Special Forces Battalion, a unit vetted and equipped by the U.S., he interfered with the investigation of Ebed Yanes’s murder by ordering the exchange of the weapons used in the incident so they would not be traced back to the crime.
Name: Lt. Col. Mariano Mendoza
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Basic Infantry Course for Officers; 1987
Info: Was Deputy Commander of the U.S.-vetted First Special Forces Battalion who directed soldiers to give false testimony during the investigation of the murder of Ebed Yanes.
Name: Col. Herberth Bayardo Inestroza Membreño
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Officers’ Course in Engineering Administration; 1987
Info: Publicly justified the coup against President Manuel Zelaya despite admitting to the Miami Herald that it was a crime.
Name: Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo
Country: Honduras
Dates/courses: Joint Operations Course; 1996
Info: Head of Honduran Air Force who arranged to have deposed President Manuel Zelaya flown into forced exile in Costa Rica.
Hector Aguilar Claros, Course: 1966, Radio Operator; 1972, Officer Basic Combat Arms. Info: Abuse of authority: Rafael Nodarse, owner of a local television station accused Aguilar Claros of abuse of authority when Aguilar ordered his troops to surround the station after allegations of his involvement with human rights abuses were made on the air. (El Tiempo)
GEN Gustavo Alvarez Martínez
Course: 1976, Joint Operations Course
Info: Battalion 3-16, brutal human rights abuses: His tenure as Armed Forces Commander in the early to mid 1980’s was marked by brutal human rights abuses by the Honduran military and the formation – with the help of the CIA and Argentine advisors – of death squad Battalion 3-16. (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989) Alvarez Martínez was forced (with a gun to his head) to step down in 1984. He fled to Miami, got religion, returned to Honduras and was assassinated. (Baltimore Sun, 6/11/96)
CPT Carlos Rodolfo Aleman
Course: 1956, Radio Operator
Info: Threatening a priest: Threatened Spanish priest Elias Ruiz in an attempt to make him cease his demands for an investigation into the true perpetrators of the massacre of the peasants at “El Astillero”. (OMCT News, Dec. 1991)
MAJ Carlos Alberto Andino Benítez
Course: 1972, Cadet Course
Battalion 3-16: Aided battalion members in capturing and murdering several rebels in 1983. (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989)
COL Juan Ramon Alvarado
Course: 1960, Policia Militar para Alistados; 1972, Irregular Warfare Operations; 1981, Administracion/Recursos
Info: Cover-up in assassination case: Alvarado was one of five military officials named to a panel to investigate the murder of union leader Francisco Javier Bonilla in May of 1990. Although witnesses identified a DNI agent as the assassin, the panel never questioned the agent. Instead, it produced three suspects, all of whom stated that they had been tortured into confessing. None of the witnesses identified these suspects as responsible for the crime., and a key witness was repeatedly harassed by military personnel. When the case was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Commission, the Commission concluded that the Honduran government had violated the victims rights to judicial protection. (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Case 10.793)
GEN Reinaldo Andino Flores
Course:1974, Military Personnel Management
Info: Arbitrary detention, torture, rape: Andino Flores, served as defense minister of Honduras, has been accused by Honduras’ Supreme Court of crimes committed under his command of the 101st Infantry Brigade during the 1980’s, when many Hondurans were “tortured, mistreated, sexually violated and arbitrarily detained” by that unit. (Associated Press, 11/94)
Lazaro Melanio Avila Soleno
Course: 1956, Cadet; 1967, Jungle Operations;1967, Comando y Estado Mayor
Info: Accused of disappearance: Rosa Suazo Castillo has requested that the Honduran courts investigate Avila Soleno’s participation in the 1988 disappearance of her son Leonel Suazo. (La Tribuna) Cover-up in assassination case: Avila Soleno was one of five military officials named to a panel to investigate the murder of union leader Francisco Javier Bonilla in May of 1990. Although witnesses identified a DNI
agent as the assassin, the panel never questioned the agent. Instead, it produced three suspects, all of whom stated that they had been tortured into confessing. None of the witnesses identified these suspects as responsible for the crime, and a key witness was repeatedly harassed by military personnel. When the case was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Commission, the Commission concluded that the Honduran government had violated the victims rights to judicial protection. (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Case
10.793)
COL Marco Tulio Ayala Vindel
Course: 1968, C-1
Info: CODEH brought charges in a Honduran court against Ayala Vindel and other Honduran officials for their involvement in the disappearance of Amado Espinoza and Adan Avilez Funes. Although the judge has issued an arrest warrant, Ayala Vindel has failed to present himself before the court. Ayala Vindel was head of Battalion 3-16 in 1984. (Central America Update, 6-30-96)
COL Lufty Azaad Matute
Course: 1968, Irregular Warfare Course;1963, Cadet Course (Distinguished graduate)
Info: Plot to take over armed forces, 1986: One of three officers (all SOA graduates) dismissed from Honduran military in 1986 for involvement in a plot to overthrow then-chief of Armed Forces Humberto Regalado. (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989)
GEN Daniel Bal? Castillo
Course: 1978, Joint Operations Course; 1973, Command & General Staff College; 1972, Internal Defense
Battalion 3-16: A key member of Battalion 3-16, organizing death squad activity during the early and mid 1980’s. (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989)
1LT Felipe Ballesteros
Course: 1986, Basico para Oficiales de Infanteria
Planting bombs: Ballesteros’ wife signed a formal complaint stating that her husband admitted to planting two bombs for MCAS, a clandestine organization of Hondurans and Cubans that claimed responsibility for 10 bombings in 1994 and 1995 (Miami Herald, 9/28/97)
CPT Oscar Barahona
Course: 1982, Military Intelligence Officer Course (Distinguished graduate)
Disappearance: Responsible for the disappearance of Gerardo Vega
Barbosa, April 26, 1981. (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994)
COL Inocente Borjas
Course: 1971, Supply Officer Course
Battalion 3-16: National commander of the battalion through 1986. (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994)
GEN José Abnego Bueso Rosa
Course: 1961, General Supply Officer Course
Plot to assassinate, drug trafficking, 1984: Formerly an ally in the U.S.’s Contra operations, Bueso pled guilty in 1986 to involvement in a 1984 shipment of 760 pounds of cocaine to Florida. Oliver North strove to keep Bueso from having to serve prison time in the U.S. (The Washington Post, 6/29/94; Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York’s Weekly News Update on the Americas, 6/12/94) The drugs were to finance the assassination of Honduran president Roberto Suarez Cordoba. Bueso Rosa was convicted in a U.S. district court in Miami in 1986. (Baltimore Sun, 6/11/95)
Arnoldo Cabrera Padilla
Course: 1972, Officer Basic Combat Arms
Car Theft: Accused by a former sergeant of the Armed Forces of
participating in a car-theft ring in Yoro. (El Pais)
COL Luis Alonso Carranza Peña
Course: 1993, 0-1
Torture, 1988: Col. Carranza ordered the arrest and torture of Daniel de Jesus Sarmiento, an opposition congressional candidate. Carranza’s troops have also been accused of torturing Jos? Rafael S?nchez. (Americas Watch Report: Honduras Without the Will, 1989)
COL Andino Cesar Angel Castillo Maradiaga
Course: 1982, Joint Operations Course; 1980, Command & General Staff College;1973, Combat Arms Officer Advanced Course
Murder, rape (convicted): Convicted in 1993 for the rape and murder of a young college student in 1991, a crime which, because of its brutality, became a high-profile human rights case in Honduras. (Human Rights Watch World Report, 1994)
COL Julio Cesar Chavez,
Course: 1965 Military Police, Enlisted
Failure to Carry Out Arrest Warrant, 1996: Chavez failed to carry out Judge Aristides Aguilera’s arrest warrant for fellow military officers accused of participation in the disappearance of Adan Avilez Funes and Amado Espinoza Paz. (Central America Update, 6/30/96)
1LT Noel Corrales
Course: 1978, Infantry Officer Basic Course
Battalion 3-16: Was sub-commander of Battalion 3-16 in San Pedro Sula in the early 1980’s. (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994)
MAJ Adolfo Díaz
Course: 1979, Command & General Staff College; 1971, Command and Unit Staff Course
Battalion 3-16 (Group of Fourteen): In 1981, commanded the Group of Fourteen, a precursor to Battalion 3-16. (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994)
Rodolfo Raul Díaz Velasquez
Course: 1982, Military Intelligence
Attempted Kidnapping, Arms Theft, Dumping Bodies: Witnesses say that he directed the attempted kidnapping of Angel Caballero Sánchez by police agents in 1987. Caballero was killed during the incident. (El Heraldo) In 1997, Díaz was formally accused of stealing arms from the Logistical Command of the Armed Forces (Boletin Informativo de la Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Honduras, 2/20/97). Díaz was also accused by Marco Tulio Gonzalez Reyes of dumping 10 bodies in the Montañita zone during the early 1980’s (La Tribuna).
GEN Luis Alonso Discua
Course: 1982, Military Intelligence Officer Course; 1972, Irregular Warfare Operations; 1967, Officer Cadet, Jungle Operations
Battalion 3-16: Current Chief of Staff, Honduran Armed Forces. In early eighties, Discua commanded Intelligence Battalion 3-16, known for its death squad activity (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
COL Danilio Ferrara Suazo
Course: 1963, Infantry Officer; 1970, Basico de capacitacion para oficiales; 1973, Comando y estado mayor; 1978, Operaciones conjuntas
Involvement with contra forces illegally operating in Honduras:
According to a cable from the U. S. Embassy in Nicaragua to the U.S. Dept. of State, Ferrara was one of the Honduran army officials “accused of being involved with the contras.” (National Security Archives Nicaragua Collection #01613)
CPT Pio Flores,
Course: 1974, Military Police Officer Course; 1973, “O-27”;1971, Don de Mando; 1968, Wheeled Vehicle Mechanics
Battalion 3-16: His house was used as a detention facility for the disappeared prior to their executions (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
COL Enmanuel Flores Mejia,
Course: 1972, Basic Officer Qualification Course
Threats against priest, 1991: Threatened the Spanish priest Elias Ruiz if he continued his demands for an investigation into the true perpetrators of the massacre in “El Asillero” (OMCT News, Dec. 1991).
1LT Segundo Flores Murillo
Course: 1978, Infantry Officer Basic Course
Battalion 316: Was in charge of interrogation and torture for Battalion 3-16 in the early 1980’s (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
COL Oscar Fuentes
Course: 1971, Don de Mando; 1972, Officer Basic Combat Arms
Threats and intimidation, 1988: After Radio America reported David Romero broadcast the names of five military officials allegedly involved in drug-trafficking, he was arrested without a warrant by plain-clothes police officers and taken to Col Fuentes, who threatened him and interrogated him about the source of his information. For several weeks after his release, he and his wife were repeatedly harassed by police agents under Fuente’s command (Americas Watch Report: Honduras Without the Will, 1989).
COL Leonel Galindo,
Course: 1986, Administracion de recursos
Implicated in Aguas Calientes Massacre, 1991: On May 3, 1991, five people and killed and eight wounded by soldiers and armed civilians. This incident occurred on a piece of land attributed to peasants in 1975 and claimed by Galindo. One of his employees was amongst the perpetrators of the massacre (World Organization Against Torture, June 1991).
COL Leonel Gutierrez Minera
Course: 1963, Cadet
Suspected links to drug-trafficking: According to Juan Arancibia of the Institute for Socio-Economic Research of Honduras, Honduran newspapers have frequently linked Guitierrez Minera and other top Honduran officials to drug-trafficking (Washington Report on the Hemisphere: Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 18).
MAJ Oscar Hernández Chavez
Course: 1973, Cadet Course
Battalion 3-16: Former commander of Battalion 3-16 in San Pedro Sula, accused in 1986 of trying to assassinate the head of the Honduran Human Rights Commission (Americas Watch Report: Honduras Without the Will, 1989).
COL Diego Landa Celano
Course: 1961, Counter Resistence; 1970, Comando y Plana Mayor; 1972, Command and General Staff
Suspected links to drug-trafficking: According to Juan Arancibia of the Institute for Socio-Economic Research of Honduras, Honduran newspapers have frequently linked Landa Celano and other top Honduran officials to drug-trafficking (Washington Report on the Hemisphere: Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 18).
Carlos Lara Cruz
Course: 1982, Aspirantes a Oficial
Failure to cooperate with human rights investigation: In what appears to be a government cover-up of the murder of Miguel Angel Pavon, who was one of the first witnesses to testify against Honduras in the Inter-American Court, Lara Cruz and other agents who were on duty at the time have repeatedly ignored court subpoenas to present themselves for questioning (Americas Watch Report: Honduras Without the Will, 1989).
MAJ Marco Antonio Leiva
Course: 1978, Basico para Officiales de Infanteria; 1980, Officiales de Inteligencia Militar
Under Investigation for car-theft: Leiva is one of 13 officials
currently under investigation by the DIC for car-theft (Boletin Informativo de la Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Honduras, 6/27/97).
COL Juan López Grijalva;
Course/SOA presence: 1991, 1992, SOA Guest Speaker; 1975, Command & General Staff College; 1969, Irregular Warfare Operations; 1963, Officer Cadet Course
Battalion 3-16: Key member of Battalion 3-16, organized death squad activity during the early and mid 1980s (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
GEN Walter Lopez Reyes
Course: 1983, Joint Operations Course
Battalion 3-16: Key member of Battalion 3-16, organized death squad activity during the early and mid 1980’s (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989).
CPT Leonel Luque Jimenez
Course: 1965, Military Police Officers; 1974, Const de Vehiculos motores para oficiales
Murder, 1983: According to testimony by Efren Mondragon, Cpt. Luque, while acting as the Honduran army’s liaison with the contras, participated in the murder of Commanders ”Suicida”, “Criler”, “Ebacu”. The three were murdered in Tierras Coloradas, Jurisdiction Lauca, Department El Paraiso. They had previously been prisoners in the First Battalion of Infantry of the Army of Honduras. The murder took the orders of Adolfo Calero and Enrique Bermudez (National Security Archives Nicaragua Collection #02419).
CPT Ernesto Martinez Paz
Course:1974, Jefes de Comunicaciones
Threats, 1987: Martinez Paz and other officers threatened Jose Lito Aguilera, who was later arrested by army intelligence agents and killed in military custody on January 4, 1988. Although the military claimed that the death was an accident, witnesses who saw the body say that it had been mutilated with the testicles cut off and the face battered (Americas Watch Report: Honduras Without the Will, 1989).
Marco Antonio Matute Lagos
Course: 1972, Officer Basic Combat Arms Arrest Warrant Pending, Sept 1997: CODEH brought charges in a Honduran court against Matute Lagos and other Honduran officials for their involvement in the disappearance of Amado Espinoza and Adan Avilez Funes. Although the judge has issued an arrest warrant, Matute Lagos has failed to present himself before the court (Central America Update, 6/30/96).
2LT Ramón Mejia
Course: 1983, Faculty Development (OE-2)
Battalion 3-16: In charge of communications and transporting kidnap victims from various parts of Honduras to Tegucigalpa (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989). Along with Marco Tulio Regalado (brother of both Regalados, above), he was one of the officers most involved in torture, interrogation and murder (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
GEN Juan Melgar Castro
Course: 1962, “SOPM” Course
Military dictator, 1975-78, installed to replace former, more liberal military dictator (The Washington Post, 5/19/94).
COL Freddy Miranda
Course: 1970, Bascio de Capatacion para Oficiales; 1970, OE-8; 1972, Engineer, officer; 1975, Military Intelligence
Cover-up in assassination case: Miranda was one of five military
officials named to a panel to investigate the murder of union leader Francisco Javier Bonilla in May of 1990. Although witnesses identified a DNI agent as the assassin, the panel never questioned the agent. Instead, it produced three suspects, all of whom stated that they had been tortured into confessing. None of the witnesses identified these suspects as responsible for the crime, and a key witness was repeatedly harassed by military personnel. When the case was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Commission, the Commission concluded that the Honduran government had violated the victims rights to judicial protection (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Case 10.793).
CPT David Ricardo Murillo Ateaga
Course: 1977, Infantry Officer Basic; 1982, Admin. de la Instruccion de Unidades Pequeñas
Threats, 1987: Murillo Ateaga and other officers threatened Jose Lito Aguilera, who was later arrested by army intelligence agents and killed in military custody on January 4, 1988. Although the military claimed that the death was an accident, witnesses who saw the body say that it had been mutilated with the testicles cut off and the face battered (Americas Watch Report: Honduras Without the Will, 1989).
LTC Roberto Nuñez Montes
Course: 1965, Military Intelligence; 1963, Officer Cadet Course
Former military intelligence chief accused, in 1987, of organizing a raid on the household of an alternate Honduran congressional deputy (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989).
COL Herber Munguia,
Course: 1967, Cadet C-2; 1967, Jungle Operations
Cover-up in assassination case: Munguia was one of five military
officials named to a panel to investigate the murder of union leader Francisco Javier Bonilla in May of 1990. Although witnesses identified a DNI agent as the assassin, the panel never questioned the agent. Instead, it produced three suspects, all of whom stated that they had been tortured into confessing. None of the witnesses identified these suspects as responsible for the crime, and a key witness was repeatedly harassed by military personnel. When the case was brought before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Commission, the Commission concluded that the Honduran government had violated the victims rights to judicial protection (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Case 10.793).
Juan Ramón Peña Paz,
Course: 1965, Counterinsurgency
Battalion 3-16: Executioner of Battalion 3-16. The disappeared were executed on his order (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
COL Guillermo Pinel Calix
Course: 1983, Command & General Staff College; 1973,”0-6″
Police brutality, 1987: Former head of the much-feared DNI, the
investigative arm of the national police. The former Honduran ambassador to Spain, Dr. Moncada Medrano, accused Pinel Calix of threatening his life in March 1987, when Pinel Calix allegedly burst into the former ambassador’s house with 6 agents. When Moncada – with machine guns pressed against his chest and back – protested, Pinel Calix, who seemed heavily under the influence of drugs, said that he was “the boss in Honduras. If you give me that bullsh– I’m going to make you disappear” (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989).
CPT Carlos Quezada Aguilar
Course: 1984, Military Intelligence
Torture, 1984: Captured and tortured Osiris Villalobos Pineda, Honduran economist and former student leader of the Jose Trinidad Reyes Institute in San Pedro Sula. This occurred just six weeks after Quezada completed his SOA course (Human Rights in Honduras, The Washington Office on Latin America, 1984).
GEN Humberto Regalado Hernández
Course: 1988, SOA “Hall of Fame”; 1975, Command & General Staff College; 1972, Internal Defense Course; 1971, Command and Unit Staff Course; 1961, Infantry Weapons and Tactics Corruption
Strong links to drug trafficking, 1980’s: One year after being inducted into the SOA Hall of Fame, fellow officers accused Regalado Hernández of misappropriating millions of dollars in U.S. military aid. Officers contended that equipment provided through U.S. military assistance was regularly sold to unit commanders by Regalado, who then deposited the money in a “special account.” Military assistance supplies sold by Regalado ranged from batteries to tires to gasoline. The New York Times article describing the unsubstantiated charges against Regalado also reported that the Reagan administration – in 1988, the year Regalado was inducted into the SOA Hall of Fame – suspected Regalado of providing protection to Colombian drug traffickers living in Honduras. Regalado’s half-brother (SOA graduate Rigoberto Regalado Lara, convicted and imprisoned in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges) told authorities that his supplier was a close friend of General Regalado Hern?ndez. (New York Times, 10/15/89) On a different tack, as chief of Honduran armed forces, Regalado refused to take action against soldiers involved in Battalion 3-16 death squad activity (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989), and indeed appeared to cover-up at least some of that activity (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
LTC Rigoberto Regalado Lara
Course: 1971, Commando Unit Staff Course; 1966, Basic Airborne and Parachute Rig.; 1962, Communications Officer Course
Drug Trafficking, 1988: As the Honduran ambassador to Panama, 1988, Regalado was arrested in Miami while attempting to smuggle 26 pounds of cocaine into the U.S. (The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 10/30/88).
Guadalupe Reithal Caballero
Course: 1987, Curso de Administraci?n de Recursos
Links to death squads: Reithal was chief of Battalion 3-16 in 1990. CODEH has also accused him of involvement in the Triple A Death Squad. (CODEHUCA)
LTC Alvaro Reyes Lopez
Course: 1971, Policia militar para oficiales
Threats, 1987: Reyes Lopez and other officers threatened Jose Lito Aguilera, who was later arrested by army intelligence agents and killed in military custody on January 4, 1988. Although the military claimed that the death was an accident, witnesses who saw the body say that it had been mutilated with the testicles cut off and the face battered (Americas Watch Report: Honduras Without the Will, 1989).
COL Leonel Riera Lunati
Course: 1963, Cadet; 1967, Military Intelligence; 1967, Counterintelligence
Suspected links to drug-trafficking: According to Juan Arancibia of the Institute for Socio-Economic Research of Honduras, Honduran newspapers have frequently linked Riera Lunati and other top Honduran officials to drug-trafficking (Washington Report on the Hemisphere: Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 18).
COL Thomas Said Speer
Course: 1980, Joint Operations Course; 1979,
Administration Review; 1977, Command & General Staff College; 1964, Engineer Officer Course
Plot to take over armed forces: One of three officers (all SOA
graduates) dismissed from Honduran military in 1986 for involvement in plot to overthrow then-chief of Armed Forces Humberto Regalado. (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989).
GEN Jose Wilfredo Sanchez Valladares
Course: 1959, Policia Militar para Alistados; 1965, Infantry Officer; 1978, Administracion/Logistica
Suspected links to drug-trafficking: According to Juan Arancibia of the Institute for Socio-Economic Research of Honduras, Honduran newspapers have frequently linked Sanchez Valladres and other top Honduran officials to drug-trafficking (Washington Report on the Hemisphere: Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Vol. 8, No. 18).
COL Manuel Enrique Suarez Benavides
Course: 1971, Comando y Estado Mayor
Flight from Justice, 1997: When charges were brought against Suarez Benevides for the 1982 disappearance of Adan Avilez Funes and Amado Espinoza Paz, he went into hiding to avoid prosecution. He was later detained and as of September 1997 was awaiting trial (Boletin Informativo de la Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos de Honduras, 9/3/97).
COL Guillermo Thuman Cordon
Course: 1973, Command & General Staff College; 1960, Military Intelligence Course
Plot to take over armed forces: One of three officers (all SOA
graduates) dismissed from Honduran military in 1986 for involvement in plot to overthrow then-chief of Armed Forces Humberto Regalado (Americas Watch Report: Honduras: Without the Will, 1989).
LTC Luis Alonso Villatoro Villeda
Course: 1982, Administration; 1973, “O-6”
Battalion 3-16: Was head of Battalion 3-16 from 1986-1988, when that battalion disappeared, among others, Roger Samuel Gonz?lez Zelaya, a 24-year-old student (Americas Watch Report: The Facts Speak for Themselves, 1994).
COL Amilcar Zelaya
Course: 1972, Command & General Staff College; 1970, Command and Unit Staff Course
Battalion 3-16: His country home was used as a detention, torture, and killing center for Battalion 3-16 in the early to mid 1980’s, where up to 30 prisoners could be kept at once (The Baltimore Sun, 6/11/95).