US hosts political terrorism summit invoking historic Operation Condor

Operation Condor was a covert U.S.-backed program launched in November 1975 that coordinated repressive actions among South American military dictatorships. The operation, active through the 1980s, resulted in an estimated 80,000 deaths and over 400,000 imprisonments as left‑wing opponents were targeted across the Southern Cone and Central America.

On 16 July, the White House organized a Ministerial Meeting on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism in Washington. Coordinated by Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, the summit gathered more than 60 countries aligned with right‑wing anti‑communist positions. Participants were urged to mobilise against what they described as a “radical left” threat, echoing rhetoric used by former President Donald Trump, who called atheistic communists “the most serious threat to the United States and the West.” The meeting links contemporary U.S. security policy to the legacy of Operation Condor.