Operation Condor was a secret intelligence and operations system created in the 1970s through which the South American military regimes coordinated intelligence information and seized, tortured, and executed political opponents in combined cross-border operations. Condor's key members were Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil, later joined by Ecuador and Peru. In Condor operations, combined military and paramilitary commandos "disappeared" refugees who had fled coups and repression in their own countries and subjected them to barbaric tortures and death. Security forces in the region classified and targeted persons on the basis of their political ideas rather than illegal acts. The regimes hunted down dissidents and leftists, union and peasant leaders, priests and nuns, intellectuals, students, and teachers as well as suspected guerrillas (who are, in a lawful state, also entitled to due process).Long before the repressive network was formally institutionalized in 1975 and code-named Operation Condor, the militaries engaged in intelligence sharing and coordinated cross-border operations. A Brazilian intelligence officer disclosed in 2000 that in the 1960s, intelligence officers from other Condor countries came to three Brazilian bases for training in counterguerrilla warfare, "interrogation techniques," and methods of repression (
The transition from military to civilian rule in Latin America has thrown a searchlight upon the legacy of military repression from the era of the national security states, and the problem of still-powerful and unrepentant armed forces. These intertwined problems have profound implications for the possibility of fundamental change in a region long characterized by extreme social inequality and political instability. As Rouquié notes, civilianization of the military state does not necessarily mean the democratization or demilitarization of power. How to deal with the perpetrators of state terror is a burning and controversial issue throughout the region. During the process of transition, the major demand of the military in virtually all states was for guarantees against accountability for human rights crimes—widely called impunity in the region—a demand that implicitly places the military above the law. This issue strikes at the very heart of the transformation of national security states and the democratization of power. Additionally, despite the transition from military rule, structures of the national security apparatus remain embedded within the civilian regimes. An examination of the question of impunity and those embedded structures exposes the tensions between democratization and persisting military prerogatives and power.
The musical movement known as Chilean New Song became a key mobilizing force in politics in the 1960s and early 1970s in Chile, inspiring, uniting, and motivating people in a common cause and articulating the dreams and hopes of masses of people for progressive social change. Similarly, the New Song movement in exile, after the 1973 coup, helped to generate and sustain the support and solidarity of Chilean exiles and foreign nationals around the world, speaking about the repression in Chile, communicating the ideals of the popular movements, and inspiring and strengthening solidarity movements in many countries. El movimiento musical conocido como la Nueva Canción Chilena fue una fuerza movilizadora clave en las luchas políticas de los años 60 y principios de los 70 en Chile. Sirvió como fuente de inspiración para unir a la gente en una causa común y para articular los sueños y las esperanzas de un cambio social progresista de las masas del pueblo. De igual manera, en el exilio, después del golpe de 1973, el movimiento ayudó a generar y sostener el apoyo y la solidaridad de los exiliados chilenos y de los extranjeros alrededor del mundo, ofreciendo testimonio sobre la represión en Chile, dándole voz a los ideales de los movimientos populares y fortaleciendo los movimientos de solidaridad en muchos países.
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