Warrants May Shed Light on South American Dirty War

An Italian judge has issued arrest warrants for nearly 150 people in Latin America accused of helping their governments hunt down and kill leftist opponents in the 1970s. The warrants could shed new light on the so-called Operation Condor, an extraordinary scheme in which South American governments cooperated with each other to kill their political adversaries.

Italian authorities became involved because some of the Condor victims were Italian citizens. One suspect, a former Uruguayan naval intelligence officer, already is in custody. Others named include former Argentine military leader Jorge Rafael Videla, former Argentine naval chief Emilio Eduardo Massera, and ex-Uruguayan junta leader Jorge Maria Bordaberry.