This document contains a series of communications between the US Embassy in Buenos Aires and the State Department. In particular, the US Embassy reports that Uruguayan refugees are allegedly being held in an abandoned police facility in Quilmes (Argentina), according to a witness statement to the UNHCR.
State Archives
In this interview at the US Embassy in Asuncion, a released political prisoner, Lidia Ester Cabrera de Franco recounts her arrest in Argentina and her detainment at the Investigations Police headquarters and Emboscada prison in Paraguay.
The interview alludes to victims who were disappeared during death flights. When Argentine dictator Videla visited the Paraguayan prison, the victim recalls that several Argentine prisoners were turned over to the Argentine authorities who had travelled in the President's aircraft, never to be seen again.
This document contains a forwarded copy of the CIA report on the Revolutionary Coordinating Junta (JCR).
Este documento es un reporte escrito por la "Secretariat International de Juristes pour l'Amnestie en Uruguay" en París. Menciona dos testimonios de personas recientemente liberadas en la Argentina y actualmente refugiadas en Europa que aportan información sobre las operaciones conjuntas de los militares uruguayos y argentinos contra los refugiados uruguayos en Argentina.
Intelligence appraisal: Latin America: Counterterrorism and Trends in Terrorism. The document identifies the influential service chiefs in Condor and provides a map with the codes of Condor member countries. It recounts the simultaneous decline in the strength of the JCR and development of Operation Condor.
In this report, the US Defense Intelligence Agency reports on the development of Operation Condor including the establishment of a communications network called Condortel. The operations centre will be based in Buenos Aires.
This brief sent to the US Ambassador to Paraguay provides an overview of the development of Operation Condor until August 1978. The document mentions that Peru and Ecuador had recently joined. It also highlights that cooperation between the respective member countries had existed prior to the formal establishment of Operation Condor in May 1976 during the meeting in Santiago, Chile. Alongside regular meetings and intelligence sharing, the document mentions that member countries had been involved in conducting training including psychological warfare.
This document summarises a statement from the FBI which will be presented to the Chilean government, following the death of Chilean politician Orlando Letelier in Washington. The FBI indicates that there is strong evidence that, beyond intelligence sharing, international operations are also part of the Operation Condor system.
This document summarises an attachment with a list of Uruguayans who were freed, refouled, and allegedly disappeared in Argentina produced by the UNHCR in Buenos Aires.
The US Embassy in Paraguay reports to the State Department that a secret meeting took place between the chiefs of intelligence of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and perhaps Bolivia. The meeting, reportedly, ended badly due to tensions between Argentina and Chile regarding the Beagle Channel case.
Title: US Ambassador to Paraguay mentions existence of central communications system in Panama (Condortel)
In this document, the US Ambassador to Paraguay reports on his second meeting with the Chief of Staff in charge of the high-profile case of the assassination of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington. The Chief of Staff General Alejandro Fretes Davalos pointed to a document indicating the coordination between security forces in South America to share intelligence and carry out the detention and refoulment of 'subversives'. The document mentions the existence of a protected communications system ('Condortel') at a US military base in Panama.
Title: Circular 50/78
Circular 50/78, dated 27 November 1978, from the Directorate for Foreign Policy Affairs, addressed to the Heads of Mission. Attached are Press Releases Nos. 1,398, 1,399, and 1,400 from the Joint Forces Press Office.
Press Release No. 1,400 reports on the detention of Universindo Rodríguez Díaz and Lilián Celiberti Rosas (together with her young children) while attempting to enter the country.
Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Laws, Decrees, Resolutions, Circulars / Year 1978 / Box 1 / Folder A1-2-1 / 2 pages.
Title: Note 4/78-1154
Note 4/78-1154, dated 1 December 1978, from the Ambassador of Uruguay in Brazil – Gen. (Ret.) Eduardo Zubía, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adolfo Folle Martínez. Attached is Confidential Report No. 1050/978 from the Consulate General of Uruguay in Porto Alegre, concerning the disappearance of citizens Universindo Rodríguez and Lilián Celiberti.
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Brazil / Series: Confidential Notes Sent / Year 1979 / Box 14 / Folder 3 / 6 pages.
In this document, the US Ambassador to Uruguay informs Washington that the Brazilian journalist Luis Cunha had unveiled the alleged kidnapping of Uruguayan political refugees Universindo Rodriguez and Liliana de Casariego in Brazil. The document highlights that Cunha strongly suspected that the Uruguayans' captors belonged to local Brazilian security forces.
Title: Circular 53/78
Circular 53/78, dated 5 December 1978, from the Directorate for Foreign Policy Affairs, addressed to Heads of Mission, attaching Press Release No. 1,401 from the Joint Forces’ Press Office.
The press release reports on an operation carried out in the city of Porto Alegre against the 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: Laws, Decrees, Resolutions, Circulars / Year 1978 / Box 1 / Folder A1-2-1 / 4 pages.
Title: Nota H3-1/978 (2699)
Note H3-1/978 (2699), dated 18 December 1978, from the Embassy of Uruguay in the Republic of Argentina to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adolfo Folle Martínez, enclosing copies of Official Notes No. 1360-978, 1366-978, and 1374-978 from the Consulate General. These notes provide information about Uruguayan citizens living in the Republic of Argentina and the percentage of subversive agents among them.
Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Subversion / Year 1978 / Confidential Documents Box 3 / Folder H3-1 / 13 pages.
Amnesty International reports on numerous abductions and disappearances in Argentina from August to October 1978. The report mentions the illegal forced repatriation, or refoulment, of political exiles in Argentine through the joint effort by the paramilitary security forces of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
In this communique, the US Ambassador of Buenos Aires forwards the remarks of a UNHCR official regarding disappeared Uruguayan refugees including the fact that the UNHCR, allegedly, has records of 50 Uruguayans disappeared in Argentina in 1977-1978. Of these 50 Uruguayans, only five reappeared in Argentine jails and the Government of Argentina denied having any record of their detention (except for one case).
Report by the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared (AFUDE) on disappeared Uruguayan refugees. In the first part of the report, it mentions that 'since 1974 the Uruguayan government is kidnapping political refugees in Argentina'. The second part of the report shares information regarding a list of disappeared Uruguayan refugees, including those seen in Argentine prisons, those kidnapped in Paraguay, and Uruguayan children disappeared in Argentina.
The UNHCR reports on the missing 26 Uruguayans who were abducted by the Argentine security forces between the late December of 1978 and early February 1979. An eyewitness account reveals that the group is being held in a derelict police station in southern Buenos Aires. The witness identifies that the group was interrogated by both Argentine and Uruguayan agents due to their accents.
Title: Note 4/79 – 0105
Note 4/79-0105, dated 1 February 1979, from the Ambassador of Uruguay in Brazil – Gen. (Ret.) Eduardo Zubía, to the Air, Military, and Naval Attachés assigned to the Embassy. The Ambassador reports on a meeting held by the Consul General of the Republic in Brazil, Hamlet Goncalvez, with Police Delegate, Dr. Fuques, who provided information on the arrival of Uruguayans from Europe with fake passports, as well as links to the ETA terrorist movement.
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Brazil / Series: Confidential Notes Sent / Year 1979 / Box 13 / Folder 5 / 4 pages.
This document is a news bulletin produced by US church-funded human rights organisation, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). It highlights a resolution by the Organization of American States (OAS) accusing the Argentine and Uruguayan governments of cooperation to repress political exiles by illegally returning exiles to their home country. This resolution specifically mentioned the case of Uruguayan journalist Enrique Rodriguez Larreta who, according to the OAS, was detained and tortured in Argentina before being returned to Uruguay in an Argentine military plane.
Title: Telex C106/21
Telex C106/21, dated 15 March 1979 (Clear and Ciphered), from the Embassy of Uruguay in Argentina (URUBAIRES) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACIA), requesting instructions on how to proceed with search requests for citizens on the list of wanted individuals.
Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Information on Individuals / Year 1979 / Confidential Documents Box 3 / Folder H3-2 / 2 pages.
This is a CIA report on the death of Montonero leader, Norberto Habegger who was kidnapped in Brazil in July 1978 and secretly taken to Argentina, where he was reportedly cooperating with Argentine intelligence.
This US State Department document reports on the case of the Argentine journalist, Norberto Habbeger who was disappeared in Rio de Janeiro in August 1978. According to a press source, Habbeger's wife believes that he was kidnapped by Argentine police, 'possibly with the help of Brazilian police'.
This document reports that the countersubversive operations by the military regimes of South America have effectively curbed both the armed action and propaganda activities of the Revolutionary Coordinating Junta (JCR).
Report evaluating the declining strength of the JCR from an international, armed revolutionary network to a propaganda initiative. It also documents the existence of Operation Condor: a joint operation by the Southern Cone military regimes to combat the international threat of the JCR.
Memo N° 87/6/VII/979, dated 6 July 1979, submitted by the Navy Attaché of the Uruguayan Embassy in the Republic of Argentina to the Uruguayan Ambassador of said Diplomatic Mission, sending the military passport of Navy Lieutenant (CG) Jorge Tróccoli to process the visa extension due to his stay in Argentina. It moreover reports the forwarding of the certificate of stay issued by the Naval Mechanics School (ESMA), where the Navy Lieutenant is currently serving.
Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Year 1979 / Box 7 / Folder G 7-5-1 “Officials of the Uruguayan Armed Forces granted scholarships in the Republic of Argentina.”
Este comunicado del Secretariado Internacional de Juristas por la Amnistia en Uruguay (SIJAU) cuenta la localización de los dos niños uruguayos, Anatole y Victoria Julien Grisona en Chile. Destaca que el hecho confirma las denuncias realizadas sobre las desapariciones de ciudadanos uruguayos y representa un logro para la campaña por los desaparecidos.
En este reporte, la ONG brasileña, CLAMOR informa sobre la localización de los hermanos Anatole Boris y Eva Lucía Julien Grisona en Chile. Los niños habían sido secuestrados en Buenos Aires en 1976.
Telex A 120, dated 1 August 1979, sent from the Uruguayan Embassy in Chile (URUSANTI) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACY) informing the dissemination of an allegation regarding the abduction and subsequent re-appearance in the city of Valparaíso of the children Anatole and “Lucía” Victoria Julien Grisonas.
Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Chile / Series: Telex / Year 1979 / Box 19 / Folder 9.
Title: Note A-547/79
Note A-547/79, dated 2 August 1979, from the Embassy of Uruguay in Chile, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adolfo Folle Martínez. It reports on the press coverage when the organisation “Clamor” announced the kidnapping of the children Anatole and Eva Lucía Julien Grisonas and their subsequent appearance in the city of Valparaíso.
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Chile / Series: Related Correspondence / Year 1979 / Box 7 / Folder 8 / 1 page.
Title: Note A-580/79
Note A-580/79, dated 10 August 1979, from the Embassy of Uruguay in Chile, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Adolfo Folle Martínez. The Embassy reports a visit by Julio Zaffaroni and his wife, who came to file a complaint against the disappearance of their son and his family in Buenos Aires in 1976. They also stated that they had travelled to Chile to search for their granddaughter, Mariana Zaffaroni, after learning of statements by Anatole Julien Grisonas, a child who recently appeared in Valparaíso.
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Chile / Series: Related Correspondence / Year 1979 / Box 7 / Envelope 8 / 2 pages.
The US Embassy in Paraguay reports to the US Secretary of State that members of the Argentine security forces were torturing and interrogating alleged Montoneros in Paraguay handed over by the Paraguayan Investigations Police.
Este reporte de la asociación de derechos humanos brasileña CLAMOR menciona la localización de los hermanos uruguayos, Anatole y Victoria Julien Grisona en Chile. Estima que por lo menos 100 menores se encuentran desaparecidos y pueden estar adoptados ilegalmente.
Title: Diplomatic Circular No.18
Diplomatic Circular No.18, dated 14 August 1979, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Republic of Argentina, addressed to accredited diplomatic missions in Argentina - Buenos Aires, reiterating the request made in Circular No. 27, dated 12 July 1976.
The circular requests an updated inventory of weapons and ammunition held by each mission, along with a list of all personnel assigned to security-related roles.
A Pass Protocol is attached for the attention of the Military, Naval, and Air Attachés.
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Diplomatic Circulars / Year 1979 / Box 1 / Folder A10-2 / 7 pages.
Title: Telex C384/14
Telex C384/14, dated 12 September 1979 (Clear and Ciphered), from the Embassy of Uruguay in Argentina (URUBAIRES) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACIA), reporting on a press note that mentions the arrival of a group of Uruguayan citizens seeking to meet with the Executive Secretary of the OAS’ Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Dr. Vargas Carreño. The purpose of the meeting is reportedly to denounce the disappearance of Uruguayan citizens in the Republic of Argentina.
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Human Rights / Year 1979 / Confidential Documents Box 2 / Folder H1-26 / 2 pages.
This note from the US Embassy in Paraguay to the Secretary of State in Washington reports on the detention of Argentine citizens Enrique Osvaldo Landi and Ofelia Badie de Landi in Paraguay. Moreover, it is reported that the married couple were tortured by two Argentine security officials assisted by the Paraguayan police and their three-year-old son was disappeared.
Amnesty International highlights a report by Brazilian human rights group CLAMOR which exposed that Uruguayan children, Anatole and Victoria Eva Julien Grisonas had been found in Chile. Three years after their disappearance, the children were living with an adoptive family in Valparaiso.
Title: Telex UY827
Telex UY827, dated 10 October 1979 (Clear and Ciphered), from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIPLOMACIA) to the Embassy of Uruguay in Argentina (URUBAIRES), transmitting Circular CT24/26 G. The Ministry requests that the Embassy provide a list of Uruguayans living in Argentina with “records of engaging in activities against our country.”
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Laws, Decrees, Resolutions, Circulars / Year 1979 / Confidential Documents Box 3 / Folder H9 / 2 pages.
Title: Nota 511/79-1271
Note 511/79-1271, dated 16 October 1979, from the Ambassador of Uruguay in Brazil – Gen. (Ret.) Eduardo Zubía, to the Consuls General of the Republic in Brazil. The Ambassador forwards Circular C24/26G, requesting the Consuls to provide a list of Uruguayans residing in their jurisdictions who are involved in activities against Uruguay.
Location: Department of Historical–Diplomatic Archives – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Brazil / Series: Confidential Notes Sent / Year 1979 / Box 13 / Folder 6 / 3 pages.
This report explains the attempts by numerous Argentine and Brazilian agents to arrest two Argentine women in the Brazilian city of Uruguaiana bordering Argentina. Although the names are crossed out, it is possible to tell from the dates and mentioned places that the cases refer to Cristina Fiori (whose name has not been crossed out towards the end of the document) and Margarita Mengol. Fiori was detained in an operation by several Uruguayan civil police agents and one Argentine police officer on 17th November. While Mengol was arrested on 27th November, before being able to travel to Spain, where she was a national. The report states that the police delegate in Uruguiana confirmed that there was proof that the operation on 17th November was apparently “illegal”. There is no signature.
This document contains a list of Uruguayans disappeared in 1980 including their name, age, and place of residence (where known).
This note addressed to the US Ambassador to Argentina reports on a meeting between the Regional Security Officer of the US Diplomatic Security Service and a member of the Argentine intelligence services. The Argentine intelligence agent revealed top secret information that the Argentine military intelligence (601 battalion) had contacted their Brazilian counterpart in their mission to arrest two Montoneros (Horacio Campiglia and Susana de Binstok) in Rio de Janeiro on their way back from Mexico. The Montoneros were detained in a secret jail in Campo de Mayo.
This is an unsigned message to the US Ambassador in Buenos Aires which mentions that the 601 Intelligence Battalion of the Argentine Army had cooperated with the Peruvian military intelligence to kidnap four Argentines in Lima, Peru.
This report sent from the US Embassy in Peru to the US Secretary of State in Washington mentions a statement released by the Government of Peru regarding three Argentine Montoneros detained in Lima. The statement had mentioned that the three Argentines were expelled to Bolivia following their arrest in Peru. The US Ambassador to Peru reports on the public outcry in Peru generated by this case involving Argentine security forces..
Media exposure foiled an attempt by Peruvian and Argentine security forces to secretly return Montoneros arrested in Peru to Argentina. The Peruvian police were able to identify and arrest the alleged Montoneros thanks to assistance received from the Argentine security forces.
The US Embassy in Peru informs the US Secretary of State of an article published in the leftist newspaper "El Diario de Marka" in which Bolivian President Lydia Gueiler undermines the statement from the Bolivian government confirming it had received the five missing Argentine Montoneros since it was 'obtained under pressure'. The same newspaper article also reported that the Peruvian Prime Minister Richter argued against the statements from the Bolivian Prime Minister denying that the Montoneros had been expelled to Bolivia.
In this report sent to the US Secretary of State, the US Ambassador to Peru flags a conversation he had with the Peruvian Prime Minister, Richter Prada regarding the case of the missing Argentine Montoneros detained in Peru and expelled to Bolivia. The Peruvian Prime Minister divulged that the three Argentines were 'legally expelled and delivered to a Bolivian immigration official in accordance with long-standing practice'. He also mentioned that the Bolivian military had probably turned the three Montoneros over to the Argentine military forces.
In this report, a US government official flags the suspected involvement of the government of Argentina in the case of three or four Montoneros who were arrested in Peru and expelled to Bolivia. The document highlights 'the intimate relationship between Argentine intelligence services and the intelligence services in Bolivia'.