The Condor Trials & 40 years of "Nunca Más"

The Condor Trials & 40 years of "Nunca Más"

During the Cold War, a wave of military coups swept across South America, beginning with Paraguay in 1954, followed by Brazil in 1964, and then surged another series of coups that struck Bolivia in 1971, Uruguay in 1973, and, finally, Argentina in 1976.

The military regimes brutally and systematically repressed all opponents targeting not only members of armed leftist groups, but also political leaders, teachers, students, journalists, union leaders, and activists. The existing political repression which had been escalating within each country gained an added regional dimension of terror through the creation of the so-called “Condor System” or Operation Condor.

Operation Condor was a transnational network that allowed the military regimes to systematically track down and to repress exiles who had fled their home countries and who continued to denounce the dictatorships in power from abroad. In practice, Condor established a borderless area of terror and impunity in South America affecting hundreds of victims. Argentina- as the final country where democracy collapsed- was transformed from a safe haven into a trap for political refugees.

In this event, Dr. Francesca Lessa will present her award-winning book, The Condor Trials (Yale University Press, 2022), which recounts the cross-border system of repression under Operation Condor and the transnational networks of truth and justice seekers who continue to push for accountability today.

This event is organised by the Embassy of Argentina in the UK in partnership with the University of Oxford and with support from Canning House. Representatives of Yale University Press will be on site should guests wish to purchase discounted copies of the book.

Agenda