THE Condor Operationwas an alliance between military dictatorships that governed the main countries of South America to collaborate in the fight against their opponents. this alliance had the support of U.S, which allowed the exchange of information between the members of the operation to pursue people who were against the actions of these governments or had some connection with the communism. During the 1970s, the CIA, a US intelligence agency, coordinated the actions of these governments in the fight your opponents.
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Origin of the Condor Operation
Throughout the 1960s, the United States and Soviet Union they have intensified their actions to broaden their influence around the world. THE Cold War, the ideological clash between the two greatest world powers, intensified in that decade, mainly in Latin America. North Americans and Soviets decided to act actively in obtaining support from Latin American countries.
In 1959, right after the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro took power and, a few years later, joined the Soviet side of the Cold War. Cuba's proximity to the United States and the influence of the revolution on the continent made the United States turn its attention to neighboring countries.
The president John Kennedy took over the White House in 1961 and started the Alliance for Progress, a program of financial aid to Latin American countries so that their economies could develop and alleviate the poverty that so plagued their populations. Despite this, the United States was unable to revert the aid offered to them, and the anti-capitalist speech only increased, with the rulers aligned with the Marxist ideology or its members close to the Soviets coming to power.
Between the 1960s and 1970s, they were numerous countries that suffered military interference in politics deposing elected presidents who would have some ties to Moscow. The new military governments that formed in the Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile they implemented authoritarian measures against their opponents from arrest to death, including torture in the cellars of the barracks.
At the same time as the resurgence grew against the opponents, the radical left decided to act through rural and urban guerrillas, taking up arms to fight the military in the power. The Cuban government helped these militants both in their training and in financial terms so that they could act in their countries in the name of the “proletarian revolution”.
Himself Fidel Castro and your ally Ernesto Che Guevara they affirmed the desire to “transform the Andes Mountains into an immense Sierra Maestra”, that is, to spread Cuba's revolutionary ideals throughout the American continent. With the communist advance on the continent, the Americans not only recognized the governments military personnel from coups d'état as they helped economically and logistically in the fight against opposers.
Operation Condor emerged at this time of confrontation between the military and its opponents, especially those who opted for armed struggle as a form of combat. The operation's name, “condor”, can refer to the bird that feeds on corpses or be a neologism of “in pain”, referring to painful actions against enemies.
The fight against those who would have links with the Soviet Union would take place through the exchange of information between the governments participating in the operation. Furthermore, the United States offered the service of the American Intelligence Agency (CIA) to investigate, pursue and even kill those considered enemies by military governments.
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Condor Operation Phases
Operation Condor was divided into three phases:
first fase: a shared database of information on left-wing militants and groups linked to this ideology was created. In Brazil, the National Information Service (SNI) collaborated in this regard.
Second Fase: it was practically based on interrogations through torture of political prisoners so that they would denounce other members of the group based on the data obtained in the first phase. Several tortured militants were killed and their bodies missing.
third fase: was the most drastic of the operation, through specific actions in the member countries, by assassinating opponents or members of anti-government groups.
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Operation Condor in Brazil
The Condor Operation worked in Brazil in the mid-1970s, period that began the “slow, gradual and safe” political opening in the government Ernesto Geisel. Between 1976 and 1977, three top leaders of opposition to the military died in a row, and the circumstances aroused suspicion. At deaths of former presidents Juscelino Kubitschek and João Goulart, in 1976, and the journalist and political Carlos Lacerda, the following year, were questioned at the time and in the following decades.
Although the three have been away from public life since 1968, they still represented the majority of the population and, in the view of the members of Operation Condor, they could take advantage of the political opening to return to life public.
During the mid-1970s, the kidnappings of opponents and their children were linked to the operation.. These children were handed over to relatives of allies of the dictatorships. Operation Cry, an antithesis of Operation Condor, brought together religious, such as the Archbishop of São Paulo, Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, in the rescue of the children of opponents who were kidnapped by members of the Cone dictatorships South.
Operation Condor in Argentina
The first phase of the operation consisted of archiving information on left-wing militants or opponents of military governments. The agents of the dictatorships monitored the steps of the possible targets of Condor and waited for the right moment to act, whether by murders or by arrests and kidnappings.
In Argentina, on September 30, 1974, Carlos Prats, retired Chilean general and ally of Salvador Allende, president ousted the previous year, was killed in a bomb attack operated by remote control, in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. The general and his wife died instantly.
Operation Condor in Chile
In Chile, the actions of Operation Condor started after the 1973 military coup, who deposed Salvador Allende as president and sworn in the general Augusto Pinochet in power, starting one of the most violent Latin American dictatorships. The new military government tried to persecute its opponents from the beginning. Santiago's National Stadium turned into a prison where political prisoners were tortured.
Operation Condor in Peru
In the mid-1970s, Peru was ruled by the dictator Francisco Morales Bermúdez. During his tenure, some opponents were arrested and extradited to their countries of origin, as happened with Javier Diez Canseco, who was kidnapped and sent to Argentina.
United States and Operation Condor
Right after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the United States would have to fight the communist advance in the Latin American continent by supporting coups d'état against communist governments. In addition to financial aid, Americans collaborated with military governments, who fought their opponents violently. The CIA sent agents to train torturers or themselves to assassinate those considered enemies of the military.
Documents released in 2001 by the United States Department of State showed that, in the 1970s, the White House was aware of the violent actions of Latin American dictatorships to persecute, torture and even kill their opponents.
Discovery and end of Operation Condor
Operation Condor is still a matter of debate among scholars of the dictatorship and the governments that integrated it. Although official White House documents were revealed, the US government never acknowledged any participation in actions against communists during the operation.
The end of the operation came soon after the fall of the military dictatorships at South America, throughout the 1980s. In some countries, such as Argentina and Chile, military personnel who participated in torture during the 1970s were tried and sentenced to prison. In Brazil, as political opening took place in a negotiated manner and on account of the Amnesty Law, it has not yet been possible to punish those who committed violent acts during the dictatorship.
In 2012, the Brazilian government installed the Truth Commission, whose objective was to investigate cases of torture carried out by State agents. Operation Condor surfaced in this commission, and the body of former president João Goulart was exhumed, but the result was not conclusive as to the presence of some toxic substance that caused his death.
Condor Operation Summary
Operation Condor was an alliance between South American military dictatorships in the 1970s to fight communism and opponents of those governments.
This operation consisted of gathering information about the opponents and taking violent actions against them.
The United States supported the coups against communist governments and was aware of the persecution and torture against their opponents.
Operation Condor still causes discussions among scholars of military dictatorships regarding the actions of military governments.
By Carlos César Higa
History teacher
