Editing Condortel (section)

==Structure and Functionality==
Physical Infrastructure: Condortel was based at a U.S. military facility in the Panama Canal Zone, a strategic hub for U.S. operations in Latin America. The system utilized advanced telecommunications equipment, including telex machines, encrypted radio transmissions, and early computer networks, to connect intelligence agencies like DINA (Chile), SIDE (Argentina), SNIE (Brazil), and Paraguay’s Department of Investigations.

Technical Support: The CIA provided significant technical assistance for Condortel, supplying computers and encryption technology to manage Condor’s database and communications. A 2000 CIA report, declassified via the National Security Archive, acknowledges the agency’s role in equipping Condor with “computers and software” for its intelligence network, with Condortel as the backbone.

[[Crypto AG]] Connection: The CIA and West Germany’s BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) secretly owned Crypto AG, a Swiss cryptography firm, which supplied rigged encryption machines to Condor countries, including Brazil, as revealed in a 2020 Washington Post report. These machines allowed the CIA to decrypt Condortel communications, giving the U.S. insight into Condor operations while maintaining plausible deniability. This indicates the CIA was aware of the efforts of Operation Condor's torture, murder and disappearing of persons opposed to US involvement in Latin America.

Operational Mechanism: Condortel enabled real-time coordination, such as relaying target locations or operation plans. For example, when dissidents fled across borders (e.g., Chileans to Argentina), Condortel allowed agencies to share intelligence instantly, facilitating abductions or assassinations. The system’s efficiency is evident in Condor’s ability to conduct Phase III operations, involving multinational death squads targeting exiles in Europe, as noted in a September 1976 CIA cable.