Operation Condor

Led by the dictatorial government of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Operation Condor was a secret alliance of South American intelligence services in the 1970s that also included the military-led governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and later Peru. Originally intended for sharing intelligence on international left-wing revolutionary groups, Operation Condor agents tortured and murdered opponents with impunity.

1. September 3, 1973: Brazil proposes an intelligence-sharing operation during the 10th Conference of American Armies
2. November 25, 1975: Intelligence officers from participating nations meet with Manuel Contreras in Santiago, Chile
3. 1983: Operation Condor ends with the ousting of the Argentine dictatorship; some individual operations continue
4. December 22, 1992: Judge José Agustín Fernández discovers "Archives of Terror" in Paraguay police station

• Argentina
  • Human Rights Watch: Argentina: Operation Condor
  • The Vanished Gallery
  • Wikipedia: Military Junta
  • Wikipedia: Secretaría de Inteligencia (SIDE)
  • Wikipedia: Intelligence Battalion 601
  • Wikipedia: Ejercito Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP)
  • Wikipedia: Montoneros
  • CNN: Mothers of Plaza de Mayo & the "Dirty War" (1998)
• Bolivia
  • Guardian Limited: Hugo Banzer profile (2002)
  • Library of Congress: The Banzer Regime
  • Wikipedia: Juan Jose Torres
  • Wikipedia: Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR)
• Chile
  • COHA: Pinochet’s and the Chilean Military’s Tarnished Legacy (2004)
  • Los Angeles Times: Operation Condor and Pinochet (1998)
  • Remember Chile: Manuel Contreras & the Birth of DINA
  • Wikipedia: Augusto Pinochet
  • Wikipedia: Manuel Contreras
  • Wikipedia: Raul Iturriaga
  • Wikipedia: Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR)
  • FAS.org: "Para-State Adversaries" (left-wing terrorist groups)
• Paraguay
  • New York Times: Stroessner, Paraguay’s Enduring Dictator, Dies (2006)
  • COHA: Death of General Alfredo Stroessner (2006)
  • BBC: Paraguay's Archive of Terror (2002)
  • UNESCO: Democracy in the Light of Dictatorship (2000)
• Uruguay
  • COHA: Keeping the Military in Check (2006)
  • COHA: Uruguay Confronts its Violent Past (2005)
  • Human Rights Watch: Ex-President Faces Prosecution for Military-Era Abuses (2005)
  • Wikipedia: Tupamaros
  • Wikipedia: Hugo Campos Hermida
• United States
  • New Internationalist: Henry Kissinger (2002)
  • New America Media: C.I.A. Knew About Latin Terror Plan for Paris (2002)
  • Official Site: State Department Memo about Operation Condor (1976) (200 Kbs.)
  • Official Site: State Department Memo about South American Security Bloc (1977) (828 Kbs.)
  • National Security Archive: FBI Memo on Operation Condor (1977)
  • Z Magazine: The Condor Case (2007)
  • NameBase: Operation Condor: Ask the DEA