-Caveat Lector- Chile: Fresh Proof of "Operation Condor" Surfaces Inter Press Service 17-JUN-99 SANTIAGO, (Jun. 16) IPS - Fresh evidence of the existence of "Operation Condor," the repressive network of the dictatorships that ruled much of South America in the 1970s, surfaced this week in Chile. The mayor of one of the poshest municipalities of Santiago, retired colonel Cristian Labbe, admitted to having belonged to the notorious secret police of the de facto regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973-90), following the publication of official documents lending further credence to the existence of Operation Condor. Labbe, the right-wing mayor of the Santiago municipality of Providencia, told the Chilean daily "La Hora" from his vacation spot in California yesterday that he had "indeed" been a member of the "Direccion de Inteligencia Nacional" (DINA) as the head of Pinochet's escort. The mayor's ties to the regime's secret police were contained in classified official documents dating back to the time of the military government, unearthed in the foreign ministry and published in yesterday's edition of the daily "La Nacion," a state- run enterprise that adheres closely to the prevailing political winds. The documents demonstrate that the head of DINA, now-retired Gen. Manuel Contreras, created Operation Condor to coordinate operations against the respective opponents -- real or imagined -- of the military regimes ruling the nations of Latin America's Southern Cone in the 1970s and 1980s. "The documents survived the destruction of files carried out by the foreign ministry shortly after President Patricio Aylwin took office" in March 1990, stated "La Nacion." Participation in Operation Condor by the security forces of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay had long been denounced by opponents of the military regimes, and was substantiated by the discovery of literally tons of documents and files in Asuncion in 1992, when Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner was toppled. Legal proceedings are underway in Spain for crimes against humanity committed by the dictatorships of Argentina (1976-83) and Chile within the framework of Operation Condor. The cases, concentrated in the hands of Judge Baltasar Garzon since 1998, gave rise to the Oct. 16 arrest of Pinochet in London, where the ex-dictator is facing trial -- set to begin Sept. 27 -- to determine his possible extradition to Spain. Twenty years ago, Chileans in exile revealed a letter with a 1976 dateline, signed by Contreras, inviting high-ranking officers from nearby countries to the "First Inter-American Meeting on National Intelligence" -- which gave birth to Operation Condor. Since October 1996, Contreras has been serving a seven-year sentence for planning the 1976 assassination of former Chilean foreign minister Orlando Letelier in Washington, committed by DINA agents and anti-Castro Cuban exiles. The minutes of the 1976 meeting are frequently mentioned in the documents revealed yesterday by "La Nacion," which basically consist of classified DINA letters to the foreign ministry seeking to facilitate the movements of repressive agents from other countries. Among the documents figures a December 2, 1974 missive in which Contreras requested a diplomatic passport for Labbe and other members of the military as "DINA personnel," for the purposes of "an urgent mission in Peru." In his declarations to "La Hora," Labbe maintained that the documents published by "La Nacion" did not "demonstrate the existence of Plan Condor," but were part of a campaign conducted by the governing center-left coalition that is inspired by "a vengeful intent to polarize the country." The right-wing mayor added that the report by the state-owned daily "could even hurt national security," due to the publication of "secret documents" referring to Peru, which borders Chile. Labbe, who served as deputy minister of the General Secretariat of the Government toward the end of the dictatorship, was elected mayor of Providencia, one of the richest municipalities of Santiago, with the backing of the rightist Independent Democratic Union party. Labbe is a close friend of Pinochet, and has visited the former de facto ruler twice in the rented mansion where he is under house arrest in London. The retired colonel is also one of the most active supporters of the ex-dictator. After Pinochet's arrest, Labbe took reprisals in Providencia against the consulates of Great Britain and Spain and other bodies with links to those two countries by stopping garbage collection and meting out fines for supposed infringements of municipal ordinances. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. 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