50th Anniversary of Operation Condor's Assassination Program

The 50th anniversary of Operation Condor's assassination program, codenamed 'Teseo', highlights a coordinated campaign of state terror by U.S.-backed military dictatorships in South America during the 1970s and 1980s. This operation involved intelligence sharing, tracking, kidnapping, and assassinating political opponents across borders. Peter Kornbluh, an expert on the subject, discusses the bureaucratic nature of this killing apparatus, including monthly dues and protocols for carrying out assassinations. The most infamous incident was the car bombing of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt in Washington, D.C., in 1976. The U.S. played a complex role, with the CIA aiding in the creation of intelligence services like Chile's DINA. Despite concerns about potential blowback, U.S. officials, including Henry Kissinger, limited diplomatic efforts to prevent attacks. Accountability has been slow, with some progress made through FOIA requests and congressional investigations. The Teseo documents were only declassified in 2018, revealing the extent of the operation. Kornbluh draws parallels to contemporary issues, such as current assassinations under regimes in Latin America and U.S. military actions.

Key Points: • Operation Condor was a state-sponsored assassination program involving multiple South American regimes. • The U.S. government, particularly the CIA, played a significant role in supporting these operations. • Recent parallels to current political violence in Latin America raise concerns about ongoing human rights violations.