MATIAS JOFRE

Condor’s Memory is a space to explore the history of Operation Condor and the system of repression that connected South American dictatorships. Browse the posts and let curiosity guide you through the archive.

• #1 Operation Condor
  Link Access. Operation Condor was a coordinated campaign in the 1970s between the CIA and the military dictatorships of South America — Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia — to eliminate leftist and Marxist movements. It became a network of state terrorism… Read more: #1 Operation Condor
• #2 Declassified
  Link Access Declassified U.S. documents show that during Argentina’s 1976–1983 dictatorship, Henry Kissinger privately signaled support for the junta’s crackdown. After meeting with him in 1976, Foreign Minister Guzzetti told Buenos Aires that Washington “understood” their campaign, a message that left the military… Read more: #2 Declassified
• #3 Secrets Meetings / Coordinated Repression
• #4 Growing Concern from The U.S.
  Link Access The U.S. told Argentina it was worried about the growing human rights abuses happening under the military government. Ambassador Warren made it clear that while the U.S. understands Argentina has been dealing with terrorism, the reports of torture, witch hunts, and… Read more: #4 Growing Concern from The U.S.
• #5 Prisoners of The World Coup 1978
  Link Access The piece highlights how Argentina was slowly coming back into global attention after years of silence. It cites a U.S. report presented to General Videla in late 1977 that estimated nearly 6,000 people executed since the 1976 coup and between 12,000… Read more: #5 Prisoners of The World Coup 1978
• #6 The Night Of The Pencils
  Link Access The Night of the Pencils was one of the clearest examples of state terror during Argentina’s last dictatorship. Between September 16 and 21, 1976, the military and provincial police kidnapped ten high-school students from La Plata, most of them involved in… Read more: #6 The Night Of The Pencils
• #7 Tensions Rise Within Argentina’s Military Junta: The 1978 Power Struggle
  Link Access In January 1978, a significant rift emerged within Argentina’s ruling military junta, highlighting a clash between Adm. Emilio Massera of the Navy and President Jorge Rafael Videla of the Army. Massera publicly expressed his disillusionment with Videla’s leadership, advocating for an… Read more: #7 Tensions Rise Within Argentina’s Military Junta: The 1978 Power Struggle
• #8 More Tension Leaves 2 Dead and A Home Bombed!
  Link Access In 1979, a coordinated attack hit the home of Walter Klein, a key adviser to Economy Minister Martínez de Hoz. Gunmen dressed as police or soldiers broke in, killed two bodyguards, and bombed the house while Klein and his family were… Read more: #8 More Tension Leaves 2 Dead and A Home Bombed!
• #9 The US Knew… El Pais (Spain)
  Link Access The newly declassified documents from the U.S. government show that the United States was fully aware of the forced disappearances, torture, and executions carried out during the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla in Argentina (1976–1981). A 1980 draft of the annual… Read more: #9 The US Knew… El Pais (Spain)
• #10 Operation Condor, the Golden Triangle, and Mexico’s Militarized Drug War (1977–1983)
  Link Access In the late 1960s, Mexico began a series of anti-drug campaigns that relied heavily on military force, especially in the Golden Triangle, a region long known for marijuana and opium poppy production. Early operations like Canador (1969–1975) and Trizo (1976) tested… Read more: #10 Operation Condor, the Golden Triangle, and Mexico’s Militarized Drug War (1977–1983)
• #11 Timeline 1964 – 1975
  Link Access The timeline on plancondor.org lays out the history of Operation Condor in a clear, accessible way. It shows how the network of repression didn’t start with one event, but grew out of years of coordination among South American dictatorships. The page… Read more: #11 Timeline 1964 – 1975
• #12 Children of the Dirty War
  Link Access This piece recounts one of the most brutal operations of the dictatorship: the 1976 attack on the “House of Rabbits” in La Plata, a Montoneros safe house that doubled as the printing site for the underground newspaper Evita. The military launched… Read more: #12 Children of the Dirty War
• #13 Exhibit by João Pina
  Link Access These are the archaeological markers that show where “La Escuelita” once stood a clandestine detention and torture center run by the Argentine army in Bahía Blanca during the dictatorship (1975–1983). It operated as part of Operation Condor, the coordinated plan between… Read more: #13 Exhibit by João Pina
• #14 Remembering the Uruguayan Coup (1973-1985)
  Link Access This article explains how Uruguay’s dictatorship didn’t start overnight with the 1973 coup — the state had already been using “security measures” since 1968 to suspend rights, arrest activists, and unleash death squads. Once the military took full power, the regime… Read more: #14 Remembering the Uruguayan Coup (1973-1985)
• #15 From Peru to Argentina and Killed in Spain
            View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Buenos Aires Herald (@baheraldcom) //www.instagram.com/embed.js
• #16 Barbie / Does “El Che” Was What They Feared?
  Link Access This article looks at the disturbing link between Che Guevara’s capture in Bolivia and Klaus Barbie—the Nazi war criminal known as the “Butcher of Lyon.” A new documentary, My Enemy’s Enemy, suggests that Barbie, who was protected and used by U.S.… Read more: #16 Barbie / Does “El Che” Was What They Feared?
• #17 Che Guevara
  Link Access This article lays out the full arc of Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s life: an Argentine doctor turned Marxist revolutionary whose travels across Latin America exposed him to U.S. domination, poverty, and exploitation, shaping his belief that only armed struggle could transform the… Read more: #17 Che Guevara
• #18 Those Who Sang Too..
  Link Access Jorge Cafrune was one of the main figures of Argentine folklore. While many artists with similar political and social messages went abroad to survive the dictatorship, Cafrune, who had also lived and performed in Europe, decided to return to Argentina. From… Read more: #18 Those Who Sang Too..
• #19 An Icon of Social Justice “Mercedes Sosa”
  Link Access Mercedes Sosa was one of the most powerful voices of conscience in Latin America. Her singing pushed for social justice at a time when doing that in Argentina could get you killed. She died in Buenos Aires at 74, after struggling… Read more: #19 An Icon of Social Justice “Mercedes Sosa”
• #20 We Go Through Walls With Music
  Link Access This video is a segment from the movie Interrupted Memory. A film by Michael Chanan. Subtitled.
• #21 50th Anniversary of Operation Condor
  Link Access This article marks the 50th anniversary of Operation Condor, the transnational terror network created in 1975 by the military regimes of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Condor centralized intelligence, built encrypted communication systems, and coordinated joint operations to hunt and… Read more: #21 50th Anniversary of Operation Condor
• #22 La Quinta De Los Méndez (The Fifth Of The Mendez)
  This video revisits the history of the “Quinta de Los Méndez” in Tandil, a clandestine detention center used during Argentina’s last dictatorship. In October 2024, the province of Buenos Aires passed Law 15.509 to expropriate the property and transform it into a Memory… Read more: #22 La Quinta De Los Méndez (The Fifth Of The Mendez)
• #23 Europe Taking Action
  Link Access An Italian court sentenced 24 former South American military and police officials to life in prison for their role in Operation Condor, the coordinated campaign of political repression that disappeared and murdered tens of thousands across the region in the 1970s… Read more: #23 Europe Taking Action
• #24 La Nueva Cancion / The New Song
  Link Access La Nueva Canción was the protest music movement that unified Latin America during the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Folk musicians used powerful lyrics to confront dictatorships, U.S. intervention, and growing inequality. Artists like Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara, Quilapayún, Mercedes Sosa, Alí… Read more: #24 La Nueva Cancion / The New Song
• #25 Operation “Teseo” The Death Squad
  Link Access Operation Condor was secretly created in Santiago on November 25–28, 1975, when Southern Cone intelligence chiefs met under DINA’s invitation to form a coordinated system for tracking, capturing, and eliminating political opponents across borders. Over time, Condor evolved from sharing intelligence… Read more: #25 Operation “Teseo” The Death Squad
• #26 Bolivia’s president Hugo Banzer Facing the Music
  Link Access The article explains how Bolivia’s president, Hugo Banzer, is being confronted by renewed accusations about his role in Operation Condor. Banzer led Bolivia’s military dictatorship from 1971 to 1978, during which more than 200 people disappeared and Bolivians were handed over… Read more: #26 Bolivia’s president Hugo Banzer Facing the Music
• #27 Paraguay’s ‘Archive of Terror’
  Link Access Paraguayan lawyer Martín Almada discovered the “Archive of Terror” in 1992, a massive collection of more than 700,000 secret police documents that detailed decades of repression under General Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship. Almada, who had been tortured and imprisoned in the 1970s,… Read more: #27 Paraguay’s ‘Archive of Terror’
• #28 Some of the Oppressors Never Went to Prison
    Link Access 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… Read more: #28 Some of the Oppressors Never Went to Prison
• #29 Why is it Not Genocide?
  Link Access This book passage explains how Latin American dictatorships used systematic torture, disappearances, and political killings during the Cold War, targeting people labeled as “subversives.” It focuses on Operation Condor, a U.S.-supported transnational network that enabled these regimes to share intelligence and… Read more: #29 Why is it Not Genocide?
• #30 Endless stories to Tell, “Pena Maxima”
  Link Access
• #31 No One in The US was Held Accountable
  Al Jazeera breaks down the US role in Operation Condor, how the repression was coordinated, who was targeted, and why this history still matters. A reminder that these crimes weren’t isolated abuses but a transnational project of extermination.
• #32 Domino Theory
  Link Access This piece examines how the United States supported Operation Condor, a coordinated campaign of kidnappings, torture, disappearances, and assassinations carried out by South American military dictatorships during the Cold War. Driven by anti-communist ideology and the Domino Theory, the U.S. backed… Read more: #32 Domino Theory
• #33 Thesis of The Rise and Fall of U.S. Support for Operation Condor
  Link Access This text explains and explores the rise and decline of U.S. support for Operation Condor. It examines the ideological foundations of Condor, how and why the United States became involved, and how massive human rights abuses were justified in the name… Read more: #33 Thesis of The Rise and Fall of U.S. Support for Operation Condor
• #34 Drops of Justice After Decades
  Link Access This article says that In 2016, an Argentine court delivered a historic verdict on Operation Condor, convicting 15 officials for kidnapping, torture, and taking part in a criminal conspiracy that targeted more than 100 people across South America. Operation Condor was… Read more: #34 Drops of Justice After Decades
• #35 University of New Mexico’s Publication from 2000
  Link Access This report looks at how, decades after the dictatorships ended, former military officials across South America were finally facing pressure for their roles in Operation Condor. New documents, including the Paraguayan “Terror Archives”, show how the region’s military regimes coordinated kidnappings,… Read more: #35 University of New Mexico’s Publication from 2000
• #36 Paris Solidarity As a Key Center
  Link Access This article traces how Paris became a key center of international solidarity with Argentina’s disappeared during the dictatorship. It follows exiled activists like Liliana Andreone, French theater groups such as Théâtre du Soleil, and human rights organizations like AIDA, which used… Read more: #36 Paris Solidarity As a Key Center
• #37 49th Anniversary of Argentine Dictatorship
  Link Access This piece reflects on the 49th anniversary of Argentina’s 1976–1983 dictatorship, highlighting the massive human rights violations, 30,000 disappeared, hundreds of clandestine detention centers, and over 500 abducted babies. It centers the lasting impact of the Madres and Abuelas de Plaza… Read more: #37 49th Anniversary of Argentine Dictatorship
• #39 Different Take on The 49th Anniversary
  Video Link Featured Image by: Mídia NINJA  Copyright: (CC BY-NC 4.0) Mídia NINJA   Thousands marched in Buenos Aires to mark 49 years since the 1976 military coup, remembering the 30,000 people killed or disappeared under the dictatorship. Relatives of victims, along with the… Read more: #39 Different Take on The 49th Anniversary
• #40 La Clase (The Class) by Marcelo Brodsky
  Link Access  This exhibit centers on Marcelo Brodsky’s mural-sized photograph of his 1967 eighth-grade class, transformed into a powerful record of Argentina’s dictatorship. After returning from exile in 1994, Brodsky reunited his classmates and traced what had happened to each of them during… Read more: #40 La Clase (The Class) by Marcelo Brodsky
• #41 Adopted by Their Parents’ Enemies
  Link Access This article explains how Argentina’s dictatorship systematically stole at least 500 babies from disappeared political prisoners and gave them to military families to raise as their own. Many of these children grew up not knowing their true identity, including Javier Penino… Read more: #41 Adopted by Their Parents’ Enemies
• #42 Europe Steps In as Milei Tries to Halt the Search for Argentina’s Stolen Children
  Link Access This article describes how the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo have turned to the European Union for support as President Javier Milei moves to defund and dismantle Argentina’s institutions dedicated to finding the children stolen during the dictatorship. The delegation warns… Read more: #42 Europe Steps In as Milei Tries to Halt the Search for Argentina’s Stolen Children
• #43 Operation Condor’s Media Legacy
  Link Access This op-ed reflects on how, fifty years after the Chilean coup, Latin America is still grappling with the legacy of Operation Condor—and especially the role major media outlets played in supporting military dictatorships. While Brazil’s Globo has recently admitted it was… Read more: #43 Operation Condor’s Media Legacy
• #44 How Operation Condor Reveals Decades of U.S. Interference in Latin America
  Link Access This article outlines how the United States shaped post–World War II politics in Latin America by backing military coups, training authoritarian leaders at the School of the Americas, and helping establish Operation Condor — a coordinated system of right-wing dictatorships responsible… Read more: #44 How Operation Condor Reveals Decades of U.S. Interference in Latin America
• #45 How the CIA’s Operation 40 Helped Lay the Groundwork for Operation Condor
  Link Access This text traces how the CIA’s Cold War operations in Latin America began long before Operation Condor, starting with Operation 40 in 1960—a covert program created to undermine the Cuban Revolution and eliminate leftist movements. Originally formed as a sabotage and… Read more: #45 How the CIA’s Operation 40 Helped Lay the Groundwork for Operation Condor
• #46 Inside the CIA’s Early Description of Operation Condor
  Link Access This document lays out how the military governments of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil built a secret counter terrorism alliance known as Operation Condor—a coordinated system for tracking, kidnapping, torturing, and eliminating political opponents across borders. Although framed as… Read more: #46 Inside the CIA’s Early Description of Operation Condor
• #47 Operation Condor Against Cuba: Exposing the U.S.-Backed Dirty War
  Link Access A new book, Operation Condor Against Cuba by José Luis Méndez, was presented at the Fidel Castro Ruz Center in Havana. The work documents how the United States extended Operation Condor to Cuba through torture, assassinations, and a prolonged dirty war… Read more: #47 Operation Condor Against Cuba: Exposing the U.S.-Backed Dirty War
• #48 Obama Administration Declassified Condor’s Global Assassination Plans
  Link Access Declassified U.S. intelligence files released by the Obama administration in 2016 expose the global reach of Operation Condor during Argentina’s dictatorship. The documents show that Condor planned assassination missions in Europe, with targets that included not only exiled leftists but also… Read more: #48 Obama Administration Declassified Condor’s Global Assassination Plans
• #49 The Violence of Operation Condor Still Haunts Brazil
  Link Access This article traces how the brutality of Operation Condor continues to echo in Brazil through the testimony of Claudia Alencar, who was abducted and tortured in 1973 by the military dictatorship. Her story exposes the deep violence coordinated across the Southern… Read more: #49 The Violence of Operation Condor Still Haunts Brazil
• #50 European Intelligence Sought to Copy Operation Condor
  Link Access Newly declassified CIA files reveal that in 1977, intelligence agencies from Britain, West Germany, and France traveled to Buenos Aires to study Operation Condor—the coordinated system of kidnappings, disappearances, and assassinations carried out by South America’s dictatorships. European officials wanted to… Read more: #50 European Intelligence Sought to Copy Operation Condor