Sigifredo Ochoa
{{Short description|Salvadoran military officer (1942–2023)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{family name hatnote|Ochoa|Pérez|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sigifredo Ochoa
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| office = Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of El{{nbsp}}Salvador
| term_start = 1 May 2012
| term_end = 30 April 2015
| office1 = Ambassador of El Salvador to Honduras
| term_start1 = 2005
| term_end1 = 2009
| president1 = Antonio Saca
Mauricio Funes
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| birth_name = Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez
| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|04|02|df=y}}
| birth_place = El Salvador
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|01|06|1942|04|02|df=y}}
| death_place = San Juan Opico, El Salvador
| party = Nationalist Republican Alliance
| otherparty = Salvadoran Democracy
| occupation = Military officer, politician
| allegiance = {{flag|El Salvador}}
| branch = {{army|El Salvador}}
| serviceyears =
| rank = Colonel
| battles = Salvadoran Civil War
}}
Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez (2 April 1942{{cite web | url=https://www.elsalvador.com/fotogalerias/noticias-fotogalerias/accidentes-san-juan-opico-quezaltepeque-/1029905/2023/ | title=Imágenes para recordar la trayectoria del Coronel Sigfredo Ochoa Pérez }} – 6 January 2023) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who commanded Death Squads during the Salvadoran Civil War.
Biography
Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez was born in El Salvador on 2 April 1942.{{cite web|url=https://www.elsalvador.com/noticias/nacional/accidente-choque-san-juan-opico-quezaltepeque/1029797/2023/|title=Coronel Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Murió Tras Accidente en Desvío a San Juan Opico|trans-title=Colonel Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Died In a Traffic Accident in San Juan Opico|language=es|date=6 January 2023|access-date=9 January 2023|first1=David|last1=Cañenguez}} He was a colonel in the Salvadoran Army during the Salvadoran Civil War.{{cite web|url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/el-salvador-obituario_muere-militar-y-exembajador-de-el-salvador-señalado-de-masacre-durante-guerra/48186334|title=Muere Militar y Exembajador de El Salvador Señalado de Masacre Durante Guerra|trans-title=Military Officer and Ex-Ambassador of El Salvador Implicated in Civil War Massacre Dies|language=es|date=6 January 2023|access-date=9 January 2023|work=Swiss Info|location=San Salvador, El Salvador}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.contrapunto.com.sv/sigifredo-ochoa-perez-muere-con-condenas-y-acusaciones/|title=Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Muere con Condenas y Acusaciones|trans-title=Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Dies with Condemnations and Accusations|language=es|work=Contra Punto|date=7 January 2023|access-date=9 January 2023|first1=Alessia|last1=Genoves}}{{cite web|url=https://www.contrapunto.com.sv/sigifredo-ochoa-perez-pasara-8-anos-en-la-carcel-por-apropiarse-de-fondos-publicos/|title=Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Pasará 8 Años en la Cárcel por Apropiarse de Fondos Públicos|trans-title=Sigifredo Ochoa Pérez Will Serve 8 Years Imprisonment for Appropriating Public Funds|language=es|date=29 June 2022|access-date=9 January 2023|work=Contra Punto}}
He was also accused of leading the Santa Cruz massacre the year prior,{{Cite web |title=The CIA is still refusing to release its files on this alleged war criminal |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/10/el-salvador-military-cia-lawsuit-ochoa-perez/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617202610/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/10/el-salvador-military-cia-lawsuit-ochoa-perez/ |archive-date=2023-06-17 |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=23 February 2015 |title=God Alone was with Us: The Santa Cruz Massacre |url=https://unfinishedsentences.org/reports/santa-cruz/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516150816/https://unfinishedsentences.org/reports/santa-cruz/ |archive-date=2023-05-16 |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=Unfinished Sentences |publisher=Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law}} including by Philippe Bourgois.{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011338368 |title=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. |date=1982 |publisher=United States Government Publishing Office |location=Washington |access-date=2023-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702025340/https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011338368 |archive-date=2023-07-02 |url-status=live}}
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).
In June 2022, he was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for misappropriating US$41,040 while being an ambassador.
Ochoa died in a traffic accident in San Juan Opico on 6 January 2023, at the age of 80.
References
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Category:Nationalist Republican Alliance politicians