On 11th September 1973, a coup d’état took place in Chile, during which the Armed Forces ousted President Salvador Allende by force. The seat of government, called the Palacio de la Moneda, was bombed by army troops and Air Force jets. A military junta was established with the Commander in Chief of the Army, Augusto Pinochet, as its leader.
On 27th June 1973, a coup d’état unfolded in Uruguay which brought about the beginning of the civil-military dictatorship. The then elected president and member of the Partido Colorado (Colorado Party), Juan María Bordaberry, dissolved the Parliament with the backing of the police and armed forces.
Through a military coup, General Hugo Banzer overthrew the government of General Juan José Torres.
Text of the agreement by Condor countries regulating their operations against subversive targets is dated September 1976, entitled "Teseo Regulation, Operations Center,” which was distributed by the CIA in August 1977. It provides general guidelines for the overall planning of those operations to be undertaken, a staffing outline, financing, logistics, a selection of targets, communication and liaison, training and compartmentation and an end summary.
The CIA reports that the intelligence services of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay were preparing specially trained teams to mount offensive operations beyond their borders. The FBI emphasises that it will need to take precautions to ensure that it does not become associated with such activity.
In this document, the US Ambassador to Argentina and his Legal Attaché offer further reports on the abduction and assassination of two employees of the Cuban Embassy in Buenos Aires- Jesús Cejas Arias and Crescencio Galañena Hernández- by Argentine security forces during August 1976.
In this memo from Raymond Warren, CIA Chief of the Latin American Division, to the Deputy Director of the CIA, Warren expresses concern that Condor's assassination plans could have ramifications for the CIA's liaisons with Condor intelligence services as well as Western intelligence services.
Meeting at Department of State to Discuss “Operation CONDOR”
The US Ambassador in Montevideo shares further information with the State Department regarding the activities of Uruguayan legislators and opponents of the military regime, Zelmar Michelini and Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz. The Argentine authorities suspect that Michelini is involved with the Revolutionary Coordinating Junta (JCR) in Argentina.
This document reports that, during a meeting in Santiago in May 1976, Condor member countries committed to forming a unit called 'Teseo' to combat members of the leftist Revolutionary Coordinating Junta (JCR) and its supporters in France.
