Brazil arrests Uruguayan former official for dictatorship-era crimes

The Brazilian Federal Police have arrested Pedro Antonio Narbondo Mato, an 85-year-old former Uruguayan Army official, in Santana do Livramento. The arrest follows a decision by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) to enforce a sentence for crimes committed during the 1970s military dictatorships in South America.

Narbondo, who operated under the codename ‘El Burro’ as an officer of the Defense Information Service (SID), was convicted by Italian courts for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of four Italian citizens in Argentina in 1976. These actions were part of Operation Condor, a clandestine campaign involving the intelligence services of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay to eliminate political opponents.

Because Narbondo is a natural-born Brazilian citizen, he cannot be extradited to Italy. Consequently, the STJ commuted his life sentence to 30 years of imprisonment to align with Brazilian law. During the proceedings, judges rejected arguments for amnesty, citing Inter-American Court of Human Rights standards that classify torture and extrajudicial executions as grave human rights violations.