La lengua del Cóndor: discurso e ideología en la represión transnacional en Sudamérica

During the 1970s, as the countries of the Southern Cone entered a period of dictatorship—joined by Paraguay, which had already been under the authoritarian rule of Alfredo Stroessner since the 1950s—an alliance of cooperation and collaboration was proposed in the war against subversion. From this, Operation Condor emerged as an extraterritorial arm of South American intelligence and as a support in the underground fight against pro-Marxist organizations. In this article, drawing on Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, we will examine some of the documentation associated with the Plan to highlight the strong presence of ideological elements and the formation of a military hegemony. Furthermore, we will highlight the importance of the Plan’s discursive constructions, as they helped consolidate anti-communism and a militarization of the collective imagination in Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina.