Collection "50 Years After Operation Condor"

50 Years After Operation Condor: Documents for Memory and Justice

This collection brings together historical documents and key texts that help to understand the repressive context that existed in South America during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the prolonged and tireless pursuit of justice championed by the victims, their families, and civil society organisations. It also puts the spotlight on the struggles against authoritarianism, the resistance to dictatorships, and the sustained commitment to building Memory, Truth, and Justice.

The documents presented here were collected, digitised, and systematised thanks to a joint effort between researchers, social organisations, and institutions. In the current context of denialism and the resurgence of authoritarian discourses, it is essential to provide the public with free and open access to this documentation to strengthen critical thinking, democratise knowledge, and contribute to the symbolic reparation to the victims and society as a whole.

Starting in the early 1970s, the political repression which unfolded within each country took on a particularly sinister regional dimension with the creation of the so-called Operation Condor. In November 1975, military intelligence officers from the regimes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay met in Santiago, Chile, and established the “Condor System.” According to the Minutes of the Conclusions of the First Inter-American Meeting on National Intelligence, the name “Condor” was unanimously approved following a motion presented by the Uruguayan delegation, in recognition of the host country.

This transnational network of repressive cooperation allowed the dictatorships to coordinate clandestine operations to locate, monitor, kidnap, torture, and assassinate exiled individuals who continued to denounce the regimes in power from abroad. The relatives of disappeared individuals and refugees were also targeted, even if they were not politically active, and were identified as threats by the repressive apparatuses.

 

 

Operation Condor was a secret network of transnational repression that was formally set up in late 1975 to facilitate the crossborder repression of political opponents and dissidents living in exile, primarily in South America but also beyond.

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay were the five countries that officially signed the agreement creating Operation Condor at its founding meeting, held in Santiago, Chile, between late November and early December 1975. Brazil joined in mid-1976, whilst Peru and Ecuador did so between late 1977 and early 1978.

The Condor founding agreement was signed by military intelligence representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay on 28th November 1975. This is the formal start date of Operation Condor. However, these countries had previously collaborated in transnational repression in more informal and ad hoc ways at least since 1969. Operation Condor, as a multilateral forum for transnational repression, stopped working in late 1978, although informal and bilateral operations continued until February 1981.

Due to Condor’s top secret nature, there are no official lists of victims. However, recent research has indicated that there must have been at least 805 victims of transnational repression in South America between August 1969 and February 1981. The victims came from diverse backgrounds: most of them (40%) were political and social activists; 36% were members of revolutionary armed groups; 13% did not have any affiliation; and 5% were individuals with official refugee status. Victims came from all seven South American countries that were members of Operation Condor but three groups stand out: Uruguayans account for approximately half of the victims (48%), followed by Argentines (23%), and Chileans (14%).

Victims of Operation Condor were persecuted in 13 countries: eight in Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay), four in Europe (France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal), and the USA. Nevertheless, most operations were perpetrated within a single country, Argentina, where 70% of the crimes were committed. Only 2% of the victims were targeted outside of South America.

 

Note N° 74/1972, dated 26 January 1972, sent from the Uruguayan Embassy in Chile to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr José A. Mora Otero, expressing the need to appoint Military, Naval, and Air Attachés before the Government of Chile, considering the arrival in that country of Uruguayan citizens involved in subversive activities.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Chile / Series: Confidential Documents / Year 1972 / Box 77 / Folder 9.

Telex C299/24, dated 28 June 1973, sent from the Uruguayan Embassy in the Republic of Argentina to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Juan Carlos Blanco, requesting directives on how to proceed when Uruguayan citizens, who have been granted political asylum from the Argentine government, come to the Uruguayan Consular offices in Argentina, as well as regarding citizens who are wanted in Uruguay.

Location: Department of the Historical and Diplomatic Archive – Section: Embassy of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay in Argentina / Series: Confidential Documents / Year 1973 / Box 1 / Folder A.

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.

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.

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.

Año de publicación:
1976
Autoría:
Rafael Noboa y Enrique Rodríguez Larreta Martínez
Idioma: