Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America

Contents......Page 10
Illustrations......Page 12
Foreword......Page 14
Preface......Page 18
Acknowledgments......Page 26
Note to Readers on Sources......Page 28
Winds of Change in Latin America......Page 32
The Condor System......Page 35
Characteristics of Operation Condor......Page 38
Analytical Framework......Page 41
The Role of Counterinsurgency......Page 43
Early U.S. Guerrilla Operations......Page 44
Counterinsurgency Warfare in Latin America......Page 47
Impact of Counterinsurgency on State and Society......Page 49
Utility of the Concept of the Parallel State......Page 52
Condor as the Transnational Arm of the Parallel State......Page 54
The Class Orientation of the State......Page 55
Notes......Page 60
2 Cold War Security Coordination: The Global Context......Page 66
The U.S.-USSR Battle for Hegemony......Page 67
The European Stay-Behind Armies......Page 69
Italy’s Gladio and Its Links to Condor......Page 73
Security Structures and Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere......Page 77
Other U.S. Intelligence Programs......Page 82
Transnational Coordination of Repression Emerges in the Americas......Page 84
Notes......Page 89
3 Operation Condor’s Structures and Functioning: The Parallel State in Operation......Page 100
The Nucleus of Operation Condor......Page 101
Origins of the Condor System: The February 1974 Meeting......Page 109
Early Operations of the Condor Prototype......Page 112
The Horman and Teruggi Cases......Page 114
Testimony of a Former Intelligence Officer......Page 117
Condor Operations in 1975......Page 119
Chile and Brazil: Condor Collaboration in 1975......Page 123
Condor’s Foundational Meeting......Page 125
Notes......Page 128
4 Condor’s Killing Machine: Phase II Transnational Operations......Page 138
Abduction and Assassination Operations in 1976......Page 139
Condor Coordination Accelerated......Page 141
Discussions of Operation Condor......Page 147
Kissinger: Green Light for Operation Condor?......Page 149
Seizure of Militants of Partido por la Victoria del Pueblo (PVP)......Page 153
The Role of the U.S. Congress......Page 156
Condor Meetings and Training Courses......Page 158
Condor during the Carter Administration......Page 159
Notes......Page 167
5 Phase III: Condor’s Assassination Capability......Page 174
The Michelini-Gutiérrez Ruiz Case......Page 176
Ferreira’s Testimony to Congress......Page 178
Later Testimonies about the Assassinations......Page 180
Assessing the Silvera Document......Page 184
The Letelier-Moffitt Assassinations: The Operatives......Page 187
The Cuban Connection......Page 192
Evolution of the Assassination Case......Page 195
Analyzing the Assassinations of Letelier and Moffitt......Page 196
Phase III Plots that Were Foiled......Page 198
Notes......Page 202
6 Commanders and Operatives of Condor......Page 212
How Are Men Molded into Torturers?......Page 213
Osvaldo Romo Mena, Chile......Page 216
Enrique Arancibia Clavel, Chile......Page 217
Carlos Mena Burgos, Bolivia......Page 218
Mario Jahn Barrera, Chile......Page 220
Claudio Vallejos, Argentina......Page 222
Eugenio Berríos, Chile......Page 225
Juan (or John) Battaglia Ponte, Uruguay......Page 227
José Osvaldo Ribeiro, Argentina......Page 230
James Blystone, U.S. Regional Security Officer......Page 231
Notes......Page 235
7 The Central American Connection......Page 242
Social, Economic, and Political Context......Page 244
U.S. Policy in the 1980s......Page 245
The Argentines Export Dirty War Methods......Page 246
The Role of Southern Cone Condor Organizations......Page 248
The Central American Struggles Become Internationalized......Page 249
The Role of the CIA......Page 251
Battalion 3-16......Page 255
The Role of CREM......Page 258
The Early 1980s in Central America: Terror Emerges......Page 260
Key Cases Replicating Condor Operations in Honduras and Guatemala......Page 263
Notes......Page 267
8 Conclusions......Page 276
The Parallel State......Page 278
Operation Condor and the Role of the United States......Page 282
Assessing the Role of the U.S. Government in Condor......Page 283
Notes......Page 289
Bibliography......Page 292
Index......Page 306
About the Author......Page 320