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.

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.

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.

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.