Judgment day for historic South America repression

[Judi Lynn]

Judgment day for historic South America repression

By Liliana Samuel, Alexandre Peyrille (AFP) 4 hours ago.

South American ex-military leaders faced judgment Friday for their alleged role in the torture and assassination of leftist dissidents during a US-backed crackdown by the region's dictatorships during the 1970s and 1980s.

Argentine judges were considering their verdict in the trial of 18 former army officers accused of taking part in "Operation Condor."

In that scheme, the military regimes of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay helped each other track down and kill leftist dissidents.

On Friday, the court convened to deliver its verdict after a three-year trial -- the first to try the crimes committed under the Condor plan.

More:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/judgment-day-for-historic-south-america-repression/article/466426

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http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141467798

[Judi Lynn]

1. Operation Condor conspiracy faces day of judgment in Argentina court

Operation Condor conspiracy faces day of judgment in Argentina court

Eighteen former military officers accused of participating in a plan in the 70s and 80s to operate international death squads to eliminate leftwing exiles face verdict

Uki Goñi in Buenos Aires
Thursday 26 May 2016 05.10 EDT

It was an organised programme of state-sponsored murder in which US-backed regimes conspired to hunt down, kidnap and kill political opponents across South America and beyond.

Operation Condor – named after the world’s largest carrion bird – was devised to eliminate thousands of exiled leftwing activists who had dared confront the military dictators who ruled the continent in the 1970s and 80s.

The exact number of its victims may never be known, but this week judges in Buenos Aires will deliver their verdict on the first court case to specifically focus on the conspiracy.

Eighteen former military officers – including Argentina’s last dictator Reynaldo Bignone, 88 – will on Friday be sentenced on charges including kidnapping, torture and forced disappearance. Seven other defendants, including Jorge Videla – the general who headed Argentina’s junta during its bloodiest first three years – have died since the trial began in 2013.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/26/operation-condor-trial-argentina-court-death-squads