Operation Condor – Definition, History, Consequences
Operation Cóndor: Strategic organization of international scope in which the South American dictatorships participated.
What was the Operation Condor?
The Operation Cóndor consisted of a strategic organization of international scope in which the South American dictatorships that ruled Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay participated, and which took place between the years 1970 and 1980.
These countries organized in order to eradicate and persecute communism, as well as to establish neoliberal policies in South America under the coordination, influence and funding of the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The plan was proposed by Henry Kissinger, then secretary of the presidency of the United States, during the context of struggle between capitalism and communism.
Kissinger, idealist of the Operation Condor, along with Jorge Rafael Videla, Argentine dictator.
Objectives of the Operation Cóndor
The main objective of this international coordination was both to fight against communism in the region and to install new neoliberal policies. To carry it out, the plan sought to eliminate anyone who posed a threat to the liberal policies posed by the United States.
At the same time, the project would facilitate the exchange of information between the 6 countries of the South American dictatorship.
Some of the precise objectives of the Operation Condor were the following:
- The exchange of information that would be received by the CIA.
- Eliminate the armed activity of communist guerrillas.
- Strengthen the security forces to achieve a greater reach throughout Latin America.
- The persecution, surveillance, detention and torture of those people who were considered threats to the policies of the established order.
Consequences of the Operation Cóndor
As the objective was to eradicate all opponents, the Operation Condor left many victims; among them, thousands of politicians and militants from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay who died under torture.
The figures indicate that there were around 50,000 dead and more than 30,000 missing, who are estimated to have been transferred and detained in other countries. In addition, 400,000 people were arrested.
The atmosphere of tension in the affected countries, during this time, was suffocating. Public enemies were kept in obsessive surveillance and the entire population, in general, was repressed.
