The Death Squads were a group of

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

paramilitary associations which carried out extrajudicial killings and other criminal actions in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in the years previous to the civic-military dictatorship. Their existence and power have been disputed.

Background

The Squads were not a unified group. The movement carried out its operations through different organizations and names, namely the ''Comando Caza Tupamaros'', the ''Comando Dan A. Mitrione'', the ''Defensa Armada Nacionalista'', the ''Comando Armando Leses'', the ''Brigadas Nacionales'', the ''MANO'' and the ''Escuadrón de Justicia Oriental.'' The main sources of information about the Squads are the "

Actas de Bardesio is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1998. It is currently a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Filmworks, which in turn is a subsidiary to Bandai Namco Holdings. History Actas was founded on July 6, 1998, by Hiroshi Katō and Jūtarō Ōba, who pr ...

" (lit: ''Proceedings of Bardesio''), a document disclosed by the Tupamaros. The proceedings were written after the abduction of photographer Nelson Bardesio, an alleged member of the group who confessed the Squads' activities and motives. According to Bardesio, the Death Squads were a total of 5 groups and had the approval of the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

. The Squads would have been organized and promoted by important politicians and military personnel. The proceedings also point to the involvement of Paraguayan and Brazilian citizens in the organizations. Bardesio would later deny his claims before the police and state he had spoken under psychological torture. A policeman, Nelson Mario Benítez Saldivia, confessed his participation in the Death Squads during a parliamentary investigation on the subject in May 1972. Benítez claimed to have been recruited by Bardesio for a "commando" involved in "terrorist actions", of which he was informed at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. He resigned the project soon after understanding its full implications, and claimed to have been detained for some days afterwards. Nevertheless, Benítez stated he was not informed of the involvement of the Squads in extrajudicial killings, and claimed he could only learn of small-scale attacks against left-wing figures' homes in which nobody was harmed. A 1972 declassified document from the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

stated that four Tupamaros had been killed by the Death Squads in the context of

counterterrorist Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to com ...

operations.

References

{{Reflist Fascist organizations Paramilitary organizations based in Uruguay Uruguayan guerrillas Far-right politics in Uruguay

Background

See also

References