The Secretary of State in Washington writes to the US Embassy in Argentina about concerns raised by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regarding the refoulment and assassination of Chilean refugees in Argentina and the mistreatment of UNHCR personnel on the ground.

The US Ambassador to Argentina briefs the State Department on the two confirmed Chilean refugees killed in Argentina since January 1975, Sergio Montenegro Godoy and Victor Oliva.

The US Embassy in Buenos Aires briefs the Secretary of State on deaths and disappearances of Chilean extremists and suspects the involvement of the Argentine government, including cooperation with the Chilean government and with governments of Paraguay and Uruguay.

In this document, Chilean agent Enrique Lautaro Arancibia Clavel (alias 'Luis Felipe Alemparte') writes to his superiors in the DINA. He shares intelligence on the JCR (Revolutionary Coordinating Junta) obtained from Argentine Colonel José Osvaldo Ribeiro ('Rawson') and mentions that Rawson will travel to Santiago to investigate the matter. Rawson has proposed the idea of establishing 'a coordinated intelligence centre among Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay'.

This is a memorandum from the US State Department addressed to members and participants of the Working Group/ Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism. The State Department reports that the JCR has largely been defeated by the security forces in the Southern Cone.

Chilean agent Enrique Lautaro Arancibia Clavel (alias 'Luis Felipe Alemparte') writes to his superiors in the DINA in Santiago. Argentine Colonel José Osvaldo Ribeiro (alias 'Rawson') has learned that Paraguayan forces have handed over MIR militant Jorge Fuentes Alarcón ('Trosko') to the Chilean forces.

In this document, DINA agent Enrique Lautaro Arancibia Clavel, alias ‘Luis Felipe Alemparte’, informs his superiors in the DINA of José Osvaldo Ribeiro’s, alias ‘Rawson’, displeasure at not having been invited to an intelligence meeting to be held in Santiago at the end of November 1975. Instead of Rawson, a SIDE delegate has been invited.

In this memorandum, Chilean DINA agent Enrique Arancibia Clavel writes to his superiors in the DINA. Arancibia Clavel mentions his meeting with José Osvaldo Ribeiro, alias ‘Rawson’, an agent of Argentine Army Intelligence Battalion 601. Rawson confirmed the murder of MIR militant Jean Yves Claudet Fernández. Efforts are being made to locate Edgardo Enríquez, leader of the MIR. Arancibia Clavel mentions that Rawson will soon travel to Santiago to learn the latest information on the JCR and the MIR.

Chilean DINA agent Enrique Lautaro Arancibia Clavel, alias ‘Luis Felipe Alemparte Díaz’, reports to his superiors on Argentina’s political and economic situation during the period leading up to the coup d’état.

Note H12/1975 (1827), dated 25 November 1975, sent from the Uruguayan Embassy in the Republic of Argentina to the Consular Offices, forwarding the directives received notifying the cancellation of the passports of Uruguayan citizens Wilson Ferreira Aldunate, Zelmar Michelini and Héctor Gutiérrez Ruíz. It moreover requests the transmission of that information to the Federal Police, the Migration Directorate, and other Consular Offices in the Republic in Argentina.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Confidential Documents / Year 1975 / Box 1 / Folder H12.

This document contains the original closing minutes of the first Inter-American Intelligence Conference, held in Santiago, Chile, from 25–28 November 1975, along with an English translation. The minutes constitute the founding document of Operation Condor.

This document, sent by Chilean DINA agent Enrique Arancibia Clavel to his superiors, confirms that MIR leader Edgardo Enríquez is in Buenos Aires, based on information provided by Argentine Colonel José Osvaldo Ribeiro, alias ‘Rawson’. Plans are made to capture Enríquez as part of efforts to combat the MIR and the JCR.

Telex (Transcription) C265 and C266, dated 12 December 1975, sent from the Embassy of Uruguay in the United States (URUWASHI) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACY) reporting on the meetings that Senator Wilson Ferreira Aldunate had requested with government authorities.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in the United States / Series: Ciphered Telex Received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Year 1975 / Box 52 / Folder 4.

This document, sent by Chilean DINA agent Enrique Arancibia Clavel to his superiors in the DINA, states that contact is being maintained with the agent “Rawson” of Battalion 601. The latter raised the possibility of the DINA providing financial assistance for the struggle against subversion (the JCR). Finally, Rawson reported that a new meeting on subversion and state security agencies would take place in Paraguay in a few days' time.

Note 287/76, dated 17 March 1976, from the Embassy of Uruguay in the United States, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Juan Carlos Blanco. Attached is a Memorandum evaluating the campaign by Amnesty International and suggesting actions to counteract its effects.

Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in the United States / Series: Confidential Notes Volume II / Year 1976 / Box 8 / Folder 28 / 16 pages.

This document contains strictly secret and confidential intelligence information about a meeting of the Workers’ Revolutionary Party–People’s Revolutionary Army (PRT-ERP) that took place in Morón, Buenos Aires Province, on 29 March 1976. It details the operation in which security forces killed four members of armed groups and made several arrests inside the property where the meeting was taking place.

[The date has been estimated by analysts at the NGO National Security Archive]

Note H3-2/1976 (913), dated 26 May 1976, from the Embassy of Uruguay in the Republic of Argentina to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco. It reports on the actions taken by the Embassy, its Consular Section, and the District Consulate in Buenos Aires in relation to the abduction and death of Zelmar Michelini and Héctor Gutiérrez Ruíz. The Embassy also refers to the discovery of the bodies of Rosario del Carmen Barredo de Schroeder and William Whitelaw Blanco.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Confidential Notes Sent and Received / Year 1976 / Box 1 Confidential Documents / Folder C / 10 pages.

Note 2-976 (403), dated 27 May 1976, from the Consulate of Uruguay in Buenos Aires to the Head of the Consular Section of the Embassy of Uruguay in the Republic of Argentina, informing on the situation of several Uruguayan citizens who had been disappeared or abducted. The note details the cases reported to the Consulate.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Security Matters – Information on Individuals / Year 1976 / Box 3 Confidential Documents / Folder H3-2 Part II / 3 pages.

Note No. X-351/76, dated 27 May 1976, from the Embassy of Uruguay in Chile to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco. The Embassy transcribes a communication sent by the Embassy of Argentina in Chile regarding the death of former Uruguayan legislators, Zelmar Michelini and Héctor Gutiérrez Ruíz.

Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Chile / Series: Related Correspondence / Year 1976 / Box 76 / Folder 1 / 1 page.

Note H3-2/1976 (957), dated 28 May 1976, from the Embassy of Uruguay in the Republic of Argentina to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco. It reports on the complex situation of Uruguayan citizens in Buenos Aires, referring to arbitrary detentions carried out by “security officers”.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Security Matters – Information on Individuals / Year 1976 / Box 3 Confidential Documents / Folder H3-2 Part II / 3 pages.

Telex C299/24, dated 2 June 1976, sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (“Diplomacy”) to the Uruguayan Embassy in the Republic of Argentina with reference to the actions undertaken by that Diplomatic Mission and its Consular Section in offering consular assistance to Uruguayan citizens. Furthermore, instructions are given on how to proceed with the case of Uruguayans wanted by national authorities, by providing their transfer to the Republic.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Confidential Documents / Year 1976 / Box 3 / Folder H3-2 p.II.

Note 728/4/76, dated 11 June 1976, from the Consulate General in New York, to the Embassy of Uruguay in the United States. It forwards notes from the District Consulate of the Republic in San Juan, Puerto Rico, enclosing press clippings related to the kidnapping of Uruguayan citizens exiled in Argentina.

Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in the United States / Series: Consulate General of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in New York / Year 1976 / Box 7 / Folder 4 / 5 pages.

Telex C218/14Z, dated 16 June 1976 (Clear), sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACIA) to the Embassy of Uruguay in Argentina (URUBAIRES). It transcribes a cable from the AFP news agency, sent from Paris, reporting the abduction of Gerardo Gatti in Buenos Aires, together with María del Pilar Montedonico.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Security Matters – Information on Individuals / Year 1976 / Box 3 Confidential Documents / Folder H3-2 Part II / 1 page.

Statement by Wilson Ferreira Aldunate before the Subcommittee on International Organisations of the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, dated 17 June 1976, in which he denounces the authoritarian turn in Uruguay.

He denounces the dissolution of Parliament in 1973 and the creation of the Council of State. He mentions the murders of the legislators Zelmar Michelini and Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz in Buenos Aires. He also exposes arbitrary uses of judicial power (confiscations prior to sentencing, prolonged imprisonment even after serving one’s sentence). Furthermore, he maintains that the Uruguayan guerrilla movement was dismantled in 1972 and that, since then, state repression has been directed against the population at large.

He provides figures: between 5,000 and 6,000 political prisoners at that time, and between 50,000 and 60,000 people detained or interrogated since the beginning of the dictatorship; he refers to widespread torture together with mass emigration (at least 300,000, perhaps up to 500,000 people). He highlights the country’s foreign debt and disproportionate security expenditure. He calls on the United States to cease all political, technical and financial support for the Uruguayan dictatorship and to “let the Uruguayans” restore their democracy.

Location: Historical–Diplomatic Archive Department – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in the United States / Series: Wilson Ferreira Aldunate / Year: 1976 / Box 113 / Folder 28

Telex P122, dated 17 June 1976, from the Embassy of Uruguay in the United States, transcribing a news cable with statements from Wilson Ferreira Aldunate on the political situation in Uruguay and the number of political prisoners.

Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in the United States / Series: Wilson Ferreira Aldunate / Year 1976 / Box 113 / Folder 28 / 1 page.

Note No. 50-976(710), dated 23 June 1976, from the Consular Section of the Embassy of Uruguay in the Republic of Argentina, addressed to Ambassador Gustavo Magariños. It forwards Note 2-976-(482), dated 22 June 1976, from the Consulate, concerning a visit by the Nores Montedonico couple, who reported receiving phone calls regarding the situation of their daughter, María del Pilar Nores Montedonico.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Security Matters – Information on Individuals / Year 1976 / Box 3 Confidential Documents / Folder H3-2 Part II / 3 pages.

Memorandum, dated 2 July 1976, regarding the conduct to be undertaken in the context of “the Venezuela case” – the possible actions to be implemented and the analysis of the repercussions that each of them could imply for Uruguay from an international relations perspective. This document relates to the abduction of the Uruguayan citizen Elena Quinteros from the grounds of the Venezuelan Embassy in Montevideo on June 28, 1976.

The document is missing its final page, which can be seen in another copy of the document.

Version 1 – Location: Administrative Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Venezuela / Series: Documents compiled regarding the “Breaking of Diplomatic Relations with Venezuela” / Year 1976 / Box 3 / Incomplete document.

Memorandum, dated 2 July 1976, regarding the conduct to be undertaken in the context of “the Venezuela case” – the possible actions to be implemented and the analysis of the repercussions that each of them could imply for Uruguay from an international relations perspective. This document relates to the abduction of the Uruguayan citizen Elena Quinteros from the grounds of the Venezuelan Embassy in Montevideo on June 28, 1976.

There is a more legible copy of this document, although it is missing a page.

Version 2 - Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – “Administrative Investigation into the abduction of Elena Quinteros, established by R.M. No. 201/87 on August 11, 1987, and conducted by Dr Luján Flores de Sapriza – Single box / Piece 1 / Pages 74 to 81. Documentation donated by Dr Milton Romani.

Telex C-367/24, dated 19 July 1976 (Clear), sent from the Embassy of Uruguay in Argentina (URUBAIRES) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACIA). It reports enquiries made with police and military authorities regarding cases of detained Uruguayan citizens. The telex also details a query made by news agencies to this Embassy concerning the disappearance of thirty (30) Uruguayans.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Security Matters – Information on Individuals / Year 1976 / Box 3 Confidential Documents / Folder H3-2 Part I / 1 page.

Verbal Note D-497/76, dated 12 August 1976, from the Embassy of Uruguay in Chile, to the Special Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, requesting overflight and landing permission for a Uruguayan Air Force plane. Attached is an application form detailing the date and flight details.

Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Chile / Series: Related Correspondence / Year 1976 / Box 64 / Folder 4 / 2 pages.

This document is comprised of two parts. The first sheet is printed with the letterhead of Rio de Janeiro’s Serviço Nacional de Informações (National Information Service, SNI). It indicates that a list of subversive people wanted by the Uruguayan authorities is being sent to numerous Brazilian military agencies such as Rio de Janeiro’s Centro de Informações da Marinha (Navy Information Centre, CENIMAR) and Centro de Informações de Segurança da Aeroná (Aeronautics Safety Information Centre, CISA). The second sheet, signed by the Uruguayan army chief of staff General Luis Quierolo, requests that the people named on the list be captured for their links with subversive organisations. The sheet contains the name of each of the six people, together with their date of birth, their identity card number, and their most recent known address. The letter asks that the agents let the army’s general command know once the people have been arrested. The document is not signed.

This document contains a list of names of Argentine citizens who were being tracked down by the Argentine military and police authorities for having committed subversive acts. It requests that the said individuals must be immediately arrested and the agency must be informed of any citizens who are living in Brazil illegally. While those who are living in the country legally must be tracked down and kept under closed surveillance while the agency is being informed of their arrest. There are no individual signatures but a stamp can be seen at the bottom from the Brazilian military.

This search request corresponds to two Argentine citizens, Ricardo Luiz Franco and Maria Catalina Benassi, who were accused of belonging to a subversive organisation called the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People’s Revolutionary Army, ERP). Franco and Benassi were both living in Porto Alegre (Brazil) at the time. The document asks for the two Argentines to be tracked down and arrested and for further relevant information to be shared. The document is not signed but there is a stamp belonging to the Departamento de Ordem Política e Social (Department of Political and Social Order, DOPS) operating in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Circular No. 24/76, dated 29 October 1976, issued by the Directorate for Foreign Policy Affairs. Attached is Special Press Release No. 21 from the Joint Forces, detailing the activities of the political group Partido Por la Victoria del Pueblo (Party for the Victory of the People; PVP) and the operation in which several members were detained.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Subversive Activities / Year 1976 / Box 2 / Folder A6-1 / 13 pages.

Circular No. 25/76, dated 5 November 1976, issued by the Directorate for Foreign Policy Affairs. Attached is Special Press Release No. 22 from the Joint Forces, continuing to report on the activities of the political party, Partido Por la Victoria del Pueblo (Party for the Victory of the People; PVP).

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Subversive Activities / Year 1976 / Box 1 / Folder A1-2-1 / 15 pages.

The advisory minister of the Brazilian Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1976, Marco Camilo Cortes, addresses the telegram to the Minister of Foreign Relations to whom she sends information about the passing of former Brazilian president João Goulart. News received by the consul in the Argentine city of Paso de los Libres, Ney Faria, suggests that the former president died from a heart attack while he was in Argentina, near the locality of Mercedes. Cortes writes that since necessary provisions are already being implemented, both via the consulate and directly at the frontier, he shall abstain from making an official contact with the Argentine authorities unless the Ministry instructs him to do so.

The advising minister of the Brazilian Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1976, Marcos Camilo Cortes, addresses the telegram to the Minister of Foreign Relations, notifying him of the arrival of former Brazilian president Goulart’s body to the Argentine city of Paso de los Libres. Cortes reports that the Brazilian consul in the city, Ney Faria, had confirmed that he had already actioned all the possible measures at his disposal but he wanted instructions from the Minister regarding the “delicate aspects of the case”. Cortes advises the Minister that, if he should choose to send special instructions to the consul Faria, that he send them via the Army’s radio due to the difficulties contacting Paso de los Libres via telephone.

The advising minister of the Brazilian Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1976, Marcos Camilo Cortes, reports that, former Brazilian president João Goulart’s coffin had crossed the international bridge to the Brazilian municipality of Uruguayaina and, from there, it would continue making its way to the Brazilian city of São Borja, according to the Brazilian consul in the Argentine city of Poso de los Libres. The consul added that everything had gone smoothly, including in Uruguayaina.

Confidential Note 001/77, dated 21 January 1977, sent from the Embassy of Uruguay in the United States (URUWASHI) to the State Department of the United States, expressing the withdrawal of the proposed appointments of Colonel Fons and Major Gavazzo to positions to be held in that country.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in the United States / Series: Confidential Notes / Year 1977 / Box 7 / Folder 5.

This report is addressed to the head delegate Dr. Silvio Pereira Machado. The unknown writer of this correspondence recounts that, on 15th April 1977, he or she accompanied two Argentine Federal Police officers to a meeting with the Colonel Felix de Souza in São Paulo under the request of the Argentine consul Julio Alfredo Freixas. The Argentine police asked for two Argentine citizens to be arrested while they were living in São Paulo. The unknown writer adds that on 19th April 1977, the Argentine police officers returned to Buenos Aires (Argentine), bringing two prisoners with them. The document is not signed.

Telex A107/B, dated 23 May 1977 (Clear), sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACIA) to the Embassy of Uruguay in Argentina (URUBAIRES), ordering an urgent enquiry into the whereabouts of Uruguayan citizen Andrés Humberto Bellizzi.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Consulate General / Year 1977 / Box 4 / Folder B1 / 1 page.

In this letter, the Chief of the DOPS, Sérgio Paranhos Fleury reiterates a previous request to the Argentine Consul in São Paolo. He asks for personal details such as the passport of Argentine citizen, Miguel Ángel Ricci, who at the time is being held at the DOPS detention centre in São Paolo. The letter is signed by Sérgio Paranhos Fleury, Chief of the DOPS.

In this document addressed to the US Secretary of State in Washington, the US Consul in Rio de Janeiro mentions the report filed by Argentine refugee Guillermo Cesar Torres Castaños to the UNHCR. Torres Castaños claims to have been kidnapped in Brazil, where he was later tortured by both local security forces and Argentine Federal Police officers.

Note 8-5/977(2111), dated 30 September, from the Uruguayan Ambassador in the Republic of Argentina to the Consul General of the Republic in Buenos Aires, acknowledging receipt of the note detailing the disappearance of the citizen Mario Roger Julien Cáceres. The note orders that no action be taken, on the grounds that his family is not of Uruguayan nationality.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Consulate General Reports / Year 1977 / Confidential Documents Box 1 / Folder H8-3 / 1 page.

The telegram writes that the governor of Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state, Leonel Brizola, arrived in Buenos Aires the previous night according to press reports. The military attaché is already in contact with the corresponding Argentine organisations to carry out the necessary arrangements. As soon as the requested information is received, it will be sent straight to the Ministry. The telegram comes from the Brazilian ambassador in Buenos Aires, Claúdio Garcia de Souza.

This document records information about the governor of Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state, Leonel Brizola that the military attaché had received from the Uruguayan Secretaría de Informaciones de Estado (State Information Secretariat, SIDE). Since his arrival in Buenos Aires, Leonel had been staying in an apartment on Uruguay Street. On the day that the telegram was sent, Brizola was due to leave the apartment for Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport, where he would take the 8pm flight to New York with various stopovers along the way. The telegram comes from the Brazilian ambassador in Buenos Aires, Claúdio Garcia de Souza.

The document recounts that Leonel Brizola and his companions did not embark on the Braniff flight to New York as originally planned. Rather, they later travelled on the flight no. 300 operated by  Aerolíneas Argentinas which covers the Buenos Aires- New York route, without the normal layover. The telegram is from Cláudio Garcia de Souza, Brazilian Ambassador to Argentina.

Note 2/977 - 1193, dated 29 September, from the District Consulate of Uruguay in Buenos Aires to the Consul General of the Republic in Buenos Aires, forwarding information received from the Argentine Federal Police’s Search Division for Disappeared People regarding Mario Roger Julién Cáceres and his family. The note details Julién Cáceres’s criminal record and his links to the “Tupamaros” Movement.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Consulate General Reports / Year 1977 / Confidential Box 1 / Folder E / 1 page.

Note 1068/977, dated 30 September 1977, from the Consulate General of the Republic in Buenos Aires to the Embassy of Uruguay in the Republic of Argentina, forwarding records of the disappearance of the Julien Grisonas family. The note details the complaint filed by Mrs. María Angélica Cáceres de Julien concerning the disappearance of her son and his family.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Consulate General Reports / Year 1977 / Confidential Documents Box 1 / Folder H8-3 / 3 pages.

Circular 57AD, dated 23 December 1977, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACIA) to the Embassy of Uruguay in Argentina (URUBAIRES). It transcribes Communiqué No. 1,378 issued by the Joint Forces’ Press Office, reporting on the dismantling of a cell belonging to the Marxist Montoneros Movement in Uruguay.
The note orders that said information should be used to respond to any petitions or protests which arise in support of those involved.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Subversion / Year 1977 / Confidential Documents Box 2 / Folder H3-1 / 4 pages.