MATIAS JOFRE

Former Peruvian dictator Francisco Morales Bermúdez died at 100 after having been sentenced in absentia to life in prison in Italy for his participation in Operation Condor, the coordinated campaign of repression carried out by South American dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s. Although widely criticized for his authoritarian rule and role in Condor, Peru’s government declared national mourning, and some political figures praised him for overseeing the country’s transition back to democracy between 1975 and 1980. Critics—including members of the ruling party—argued that history would not absolve him for the disappearances of Italian citizens linked to Condor operations. Italian courts reaffirmed his life sentence in 2019, but Peru never extradited him, allowing him to remain free until his death. Despite consistently denying involvement in Condor, he remains tied to the network of forced disappearances, torture, and cross-border persecution that defined the operation.