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1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

2 NORTHERN DIVISION

4 JUAN ROMAGOZA ARCE, JANE ) Docket No.

DOE, in her personal capacity ) 99-8364-CIV-HURLEY

5 as Personal Representative of )

the ESTATE OF BABY DOE, )

6 )

Plaintiffs, )

7 vs. ) West Palm Beach, Florida

) July 16, 2002

8 JOSE GUILLERMO GARCIA, an )

individual, CARLOS EUGENIO VIDES)

9 CASANOVA, an individual, and ) VOLUME 12

DOES 1 through 50, inclusive, )

10 )

Defendants. )

11 _______________________________ x

14 COURT REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF

TESTIMONY AND PROCEEDINGS HAD BEFORE

15 JUDGE DANIEL T. K. HURLEY

17 APPEARANCES:

18 For the Plaintiffs: JAMES GREEN, ESQ.

PETER STERN, ESQ.

19 BETH VanSCHAACK, ESQ.

20 For Defendant: KURT KLAUS, ESQ.

Court Reporter: Pauline A. Stipes, C.S.R., C.M.

24 PAULINE A. STIPES

Official Reporter

25 U. S. District Court

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1 THE COURT: Mr. Marshal, would you bring in the

2 jury?

3 (Thereupon, the jury returned to the courtroom.)

4 THE COURT: General Garcia, you may come up to

5 the witness stand and we will resume redirect examination.

6 THE COURT: Mr. Klaus, when you are ready, you

7 may proceed.

8 REDIRECT EXAMINATION (RESUMED)

9 BY MR. KLAUS:

10 Q. Good morning, General Garcia.

11 A. Good morning.

12 Q. Let me ask you, do you know who the enlisted men were

13 on duty at the National Guard post in San Vincente in

14 December, 1979?

15 THE INTERPRETER: Excuse me, counsel, December

16 of --

17 MR. KLAUS: 1979.

18 THE WITNESS: No, I do not know them.

19 BY MR. KLAUS:

20 Q. Do you know who the local commander was for the

21 National Guard post in San Vincente, December, 1979,

22 specifically?

23 A. No, I do not know.

24 Q. Did that National Guard commander have the authority

25 to recruit people to serve under him in 1979?

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1 A. Under his command?

2 Q. Yes.

3 A. No, no, I do not know that.

4 Q. Was he responsible for training the troops -- the

5 members of the National Guard under his command?

6 A. The initial training, maybe not, because that was the

7 training that took place at the National Guard school.

8 Q. Was there a school that every new recruit to the

9 National Guard would go to in 1979?

10 A. Yes, there was a school.

11 Q. And where was that located?

12 A. At the national headquarters of the National Guard.

13 Q. Every new recruit no matter how low a level he was

14 going to serve at would attend that school?

15 MR. GREEN: Objection; leading.

16 THE COURT: Sustained.

17 BY MR. KLAUS:

18 Q. Would every recruit attend that school?

19 A. Yes.

20 Q. Now, we heard some testimony by the Plaintiffs about

21 some of the things that they recommended that you should

22 have done to combat the torture and violation of human

23 rights that was so widespread in El Salvador at the time.

24 And one of the things they mentioned was you should

25 publicly denounce violations of human rights; is that

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1 correct?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. Did you do that?

4 A. Yes.

5 Q. I am going to show you an exhibit that was previously

6 marked as part of Exhibit 49 -- let me ask you, in

7 preparing to defend this case, did you prepare a scrap

8 book?

9 A. Yes.

10 Q. And did the scrap book contain newspaper articles and

11 speeches from when you were Minister of Defense?

12 A. Yes.

13 Q. I am going to pass you an exhibit that has been marked

14 as Defendants' Exhibit 47. Can you identify that exhibit?

15 MR. GREEN: Excuse me, I am trying to find it.

16 MR. KLAUS: I just gave you another copy.

17 MR. GREEN: Well, I am trying to find it.

18 MR. KLAUS: Okay.

19 THE WITNESS: Yes, I can identify it.

20 BY MR. KLAUS:

21 Q. And what is that?

22 A. This is an explanation and an answer provided

23 publicly.

24 Q. And when was that published?

25 A. On the 24th of December of 1979.

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1 Q. And where was it published?

2 A. In the entire -- in El Salvador.

3 Q. Was it published in a newspaper?

4 A. Yes. In the Dario dee Ohy of El Salvador. D-A-R-I-O,

5 another word D-E, Ohy, O-H-Y.

6 Q. Is this an accurate account of what you expressed at

7 that time?

8 A. This is a clarification made by the public forces

9 concerning an allegation made at the time as well. And it

10 was about an accusation against the armed forces of moving

11 to the right, which is to say serving the extreme right.

12 MR. KLAUS: I would like to move this into

13 evidence, Defendants' Exhibit 47.

14 THE COURT: Is there any objection to the receipt

15 of what is now marked Defendants' 47?

16 MR. GREEN: No, Your Honor.

17 THE COURT: Defendants 47 will be received into

18 evidence without objection.

19 (Defendants' Exhibit 47 received in evidence

20 without objection.)

21 MR. KLAUS: I would like to publish it to the

22 jury.

23 THE COURT: You may.

24 BY MR. KLAUS:

25 Q. Could you read what the article says?

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1 A. I will not read it all, but just one portion of it.

2 Q. Can you refer to what portion you are reading to --

3 reading?

4 A. Yes, first I am going to read paragraph three.

5 THE INTERPRETER: The interpreter would sight

6 translate from the document from which the witness has

7 just read. "The armed forces in light of statements that

8 the Christian -- that the National Democratic Union Party

9 has made -- has published through Channel Two television

10 on December 21 and seeking the peace of mind of the

11 citizenry in general advises that: We reject concepts

12 expressed by representatives of UDN.

13 "Second, we emphatically deny that the armed

14 forces is moving to the right or becoming an instrument of

15 the Oligarchic group. On the contrary, we are sure that

16 we are making sincere efforts to interpret the general

17 will and that we are not at the service of any of the

18 minority extremes."

19 And to go quickly to number four, which is here

20 (indicating), "We state that this entire process that the

21 armed forces is supporting and guaranteeing is oriented

22 towards truly profound and radical changes."

23 And further along there are some requests of

24 providing proof concerning the accusation made by this

25 political group.

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1 BY MR. KLAUS:

2 Q. What was the accusation that the political group made?

3 A. The accusation was that weaponry was entering to be

4 used by the Oligarchic right, and they were pointing to the

5 armed institution --

6 THE INTERPRETER: Interpreter requests

7 clarification from the witness.

8 THE COURT: Yes.

9 THE WITNESS: As a contributor to that process.

10 BY MR. KLAUS:

11 Q. Was it your desire as head of the armed forces or as

12 Minister of Defense to see the reforms set forth in the

13 proclamation of October 15, '79? Was it your desire to

14 support those reforms?

15 A. That is so. That was one of the objectives that the

16 majority, we, the majority of the armed forces had, and at

17 this time, December of '79, they had yet to be implemented.

18 Q. That was two months after the coup, the revolution?

19 A. Yes, yes, that is so.

20 Q. I am going to pass you another exhibit. This is

21 marked Plaintiffs' Exhibit 38. Can you identify that

22 exhibit?

23 A. Yes, I can identify it.

24 Q. And what is it?

25 A. This is another response to the social political

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1 changes as promised by the armed forces and this is as a

2 consequence to certain opposition within the armed forces

3 that existed in opposition to the reforms that were being

4 implemented. It is a response based on the armed forces

5 proclamation.

6 Q. Is this a newspaper article from El Dario de Ohy?

7 A. I believe it is from La pens Graphica -- no. No, it

8 is from Dario de Ohy. It is from El Dario de Ohy,

9 Thursday, 10 of January, 1980.

10 Q. How many newspapers were printed in El Salvador at the

11 time of general circulation?

12 A. At the time there were four main newspapers. Dario de

13 Ohy. Prensa Grafica, P-R-E-N-S-A, G-R-A-F-I-C-A. Diaro

14 Latino, D-I-A-R-O, L-A-T-I-N-O. And Diario El Mundo,

15 D-I-A-R-I-O, E-L, M-U-N-D-O.

16 Q. Does this article accurately reflect the opinion of

17 the ruling Junta at that time.

18 A. That is so, as well as that of the armed force.

19 Mainly this document is from the armed force for one

20 reason, there was serious opposition to the reforms, both

21 from the right as well as from the left.

22 MR. KLAUS: I would ask to move this into

23 evidence, Your Honor.

24 THE COURT: How do you mark that?

25 MR. KLAUS: Defendants' Number 38.

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1 THE COURT: Any objection to the receipt of