Italian Judges Confirm Conviction for Operation Condor Killers

On Thursday, Italy's Supreme Court upheld life sentences for three Chilean former officers involved in the disappearance of Italians during the execution of Operation Condor, a U.S. counterinsurgency strategy implemented in Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s.

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In July 2019, the Rome Court of Appeals already sentenced Colonel Rafael Ahumada, Warrant Officer Orlando Moreno, and Brigadier Manuel Vasquez to life imprisonment. Since their lawyer Valentina Perrone did not file new legal appeals, the sentence issued by the Court of Appeals is final.

Previously, the Rome Prosecutor's Office had already sent arrest warrants to Chile for Ahumada, Moreno, and Vasquez, who were convicted for the murder and disappearance of Omar Venturelli and Juan Montiglio.

"First of all, we are very happy for the relatives of the victims because they have finally found justice... We also hope that the sentence will generate follow-up actions in Chile and other South American countries," the Italian General Confederation of Labor (CGIL) Secretary Maurizio Landini said upon learning of the convictions of those who participated in the repression unleashed after the 1973 coup d’etat against Chile's President Salvador Allende.

The workers' leader also expressed his hope that the action of the Italian justice system would bring back to South American societies "truth and justice" so that forgetfulness and impunity would not prevail.

In the coming week, the Supreme Court will hold a hearing in which a final verdict is expected on the cases against 24 officials and military officers from Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, and Peru.

Among these criminals are Peru's dictator Francisco Morales Bermudez (1975-1980) and Jorge Nestor Troccoli, a 69-year-old former military officer who escaped from Uruguay in 2007 and currently resides in Italy.

In this European country, the process against these human rights violators began in 1999 with complaints filed by relatives of the disappeared persons. This happened one year after the courts ordered the arrest of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, an action that was made possible thanks to investigations carried out by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon.

Over two decades after Operation Condor, however, most of the politicians and military officers involved in crimes against humanity are dead or at an advanced age. Some of them are still walking free in their countries or in other nations.