Pinochet’s murderers arrested

From Associated Press today:

Chile: 129 to be arrested on `dirty war’ charges

SANTIAGO, Chile — A Chilean judge has issued arrest warrants for 129 former security officials on charges tied to the disappearance of leftists and the slaying of the communist party leadership during the Pinochet dictatorship.

Judge Victor Montiglio says the 129 were members of the army, air force and uniformed police who worked for the Dina agency, which has been accused of the worst killings and other human rights violations during the 1973-90 rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

The alleged crimes were said to have been committed as part of Operation Condor, the Colombo Operation and the Street Conference, campaigns aimed at crushing leftist opponents to military regimes in Chile and other South American nations.

The arrest warrants were issued Tuesday.

Also from Associated Press:

The Street Conference case involved the killing of the top leaders of Chile’s Communist Party between April 30 and May 6 in 1976.

See also here. And here.

WASHINGTON, Apr 10, 2010 (IPS) – Five days before the assassination in downtown Washington of former Chilean Defence Minister Orlando Letelier, then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger rescinded instructions to U.S. ambassadors in Latin America’s Southern Cone to warn the region’s military regimes against carrying out “a series of international murders”, according to documents released by the National Security Archive (NSA) here: here.