MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine Justice seeks repatriation of plane used in Condor Plan kidnapping

The Condor Plan was a coordination between the military dictatorships of several Latin American countries in the 1970s and 1980s to persecute and eliminate political opponents. Photo: AFP

The Argentine justice system has requested Uruguay to repatriate a plane allegedly used in the infamous Condor Plan, a coordination effort between South American dictatorships during the 1970s and 1980s. The aircraft, a Hawker Siddeley twin-jet, is believed to have been utilized in the transfer of detainees during this dark period of political repression.

Judge of Argentina Sebastián Casanello, investigating cases related to the Condor Plan, initiated the request after expert reports confirmed the plane's involvement in the kidnapping of five individuals in Paraguay in 1977. Among the victims were Argentineans and Uruguayans, who were reportedly transported to Buenos Aires aboard the Argentine Navy aircraft.

The aircraft was allegedly used for the kidnapping of Argentineans José Luis Nell, Alejandro Logoluso and Marta Landi, and Uruguayans Nelson Santana and Gustavo Inzaurralde. According to documents from the so-called Archive of Terror of Paraguay, known in 1992, they were taken to Buenos Aires on May 16, 1977 in an Argentine Navy plane.

The plane, currently located at Melilla International Airport, at the outskirts of Montevideo, was discovered by Uruguayan illustrator Sebastián Santana. Santana stumbled upon the aircraft while researching for an audiovisual project about the leftist activists abducted in 1977.

According to Santana, the aircraft, albeit in poor condition, remains recognizable. It was initially in the possession of former admiral Emilio Massera, a key figure in Argentina's dictatorship. Since then, it has changed hands several times, being used for various purposes.

The aircraft, which first flew in July 1970, was sold by the Argentine Navy in 1987 and since then has been in civilian hands, first by Argentine companies “for anti-hail operations” and then by the Uruguayan company AirWolf “for air cab services”, according to the report.

 After taking Santana's statement, Casanello asked Uruguay to preserve the aircraft and ordered the corresponding tests, which confirmed that it was the Hawker Siddeley HS-125 model 400B registered under registration number 0653.

The Condor Plan was a coordination between the military dictatorships of several Latin American countries in the 1970s and 1980s to persecute and eliminate political opponents. Coordinated actions of repression, espionage, kidnapping, torture and assassination were carried out.