Ineffectiveness of Operation Condor
The CIA reports that a high-level official of the Ministry of the Interior has claimed that Operation Condor has become ineffective due to a lack of coordination between member countries.
The CIA reports that a high-level official of the Ministry of the Interior has claimed that Operation Condor has become ineffective due to a lack of coordination between member countries.
This CIA report claims that a general conference of Condor member countries is scheduled to take place in late February 1977 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Each member country will be represented by a chief of delegation.
During a Condor conference held in Santiago, in late May 1976, the Condor members proposed the establishment of a special unit codenamed “Teseo” to carry out physical attacks against members and supporters of the JCR. Bolivia later declined to participate in Teseo.
Activities of Operation Condor outside of Condor countries. The document claims that the assassination of the former Chilean Ambassador to the US, Orlando Letelier, had shown the Condor countries that political assassinations of ‘extremists’ abroad had detrimental effects on Condor countries. It warns that such future activities would result in retaliatory measures by the US against the accused country.
Confirmation that the then Director of the Argentine State Secretariat for Intelligence (SIDE), General Carlos Enrique Laidlaw, had been named the new Chief for Operation Condor at the last meeting of Condor representatives in Buenos Aires. The document also reveals the psychological warfare conducted by Operation Condor through the media of member countries.
The CIA reports that Operation Condor has begun to employ a communications system, for which each member country has been assigned a number beginning with Argentina - 1.
This CIA report discusses a meeting of Condor member countries which took place from 13th to 16th December in Buenos Aires. The main issue on the agenda was the discussion and planning of coordinated psychological warfare operations against political opponents in various member countries.
The CIA reports that the meeting of Condor member countries in December 1976 discussed difficulties regarding the accomplishment of responsibilities. Particularly, larger countries are failing to meet the expectation of providing greater human and financial resources than smaller member countries.
The CIA reports that the training course in Buenos Aires is underway for the special Condor Teams destined to carry out operations against high-level political opponents in Europe. The course is due to conclude by early December 1976.
This CIA document reports that Argentina and one other Condor member country (name blocked out) had undertaken a failed operation against three targets in Argentina. This incident has raised doubts among the security forces of the unnamed member country regarding the effectiveness of crossborder cooperation given that too many individuals now know about Condor.