"No, I don't remember, because it wasn't my problem," he told Juan Guzman in September 2004. However, Gen Pinochet denied all knowledge of Operation Condor when he was questioned by a Chilean judge. The head of the Dina at the time, Manuel Contreras, was given a seven-year jail sentence in 1993 by a court in Chile for his role in Mr Letelier's death.Ĭontreras is now back behind bars, after he was sentenced to 15 years in May this year for involvement in another killing.Ĭontreras reported directly to Gen Pinochet for the duration of Chile's military government. Gen Stroessner remains beyond the reach of Paraguayan justice One high-profile killing associated with Operation Condor is the assassination of former Chilean Foreign Minister Orlando Letelier, who died in a car bomb explosion in Washington in September 1976, three years after the government in which he served was overthrown by Gen Pinochet.
Operation Condor was founded in secret and remained a mystery until after democracy had returned to South America.Īccording to documents later discovered in Paraguay, it was established at a military intelligence meeting in Chile on 25 November 1975 - Gen Pinochet's 60th birthday.ĭelegates from five other countries were there: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.įollowing that meeting, the military governments of those nations agreed to co-operate in sending teams into other countries to track, monitor and kill their political opponents.Ī joint information centre was established at the headquarters of the Chilean secret police, the Dina, in Santiago.Īs a result, many left-wing opponents of military regimes in the region who had fled to neighbouring countries found themselves hunted down in exile.īut this transnational pact apparently went far beyond Latin America, with agents of Operation Condor accused of murder plots in various other countries, including Italy and the United States. As many as six South American regimes took part in the joint campaign to hunt down and kill their left-wing opponents.Īlthough the conspiracy now dates back nearly 30 years, the consequences continue to cast a shadow over the present-day governments of the region.Ī Chilean court has now ruled that former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet is not mentally fit to be prosecuted over the operation.īut two other ex-leaders in the region are still being pursued by judges on related charges, as efforts continue to find out exactly who was responsible.