Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova (b. 1937) was appointed in 1979 to the position of director of the National Guard for a period of four years. Casanova led the department of the Salvadoran security forces responsible for the killing of four U.S. churchwomen in 1980 (see Ford v. Garcia). He replaced General Jose Guillermo García as Minister of Defense in 1984 and held this post until 1988. He immigrated to the United States in 1989, and is currently a legal permanent resident. The U.N. Truth Commission Report on El Salvador found that Vides Casanova knew about the National Guardsmen who had committed the murders, and participated in the cover-up of the facts that obstructed the investigation.
