Former Argentine general Eduardo Cabanillas was sentenced to life in prison for running the Automotores Orletti secret detention center in Buenos Aires during the period of military rule from 1976-83. Under "Operation Condor [2]," a coordinated campaign of the Southern Cone dictatorships, some 200 leftist dissidents were abducted and held there—mostly Uruguayans, but also Chileans, Bolivians, Peruvians and Cubans. Two former agents of the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE), Honorio Martínez and Eduardo Ruffo, were sentenced to 25 years each. A former officer of the military's Intelligence Battalion 601, Raul Guglielminetti, was given 20 years. (BBC News [3], Pagina 12 [4], Argentina, March 31)
The sentencing comes as Argentines commemorated the March 24 anniversary of the 1976 military coup as a national holiday—the National Day of Truth and Justice. Thousands filled Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo for an official ceremony, although President Cristina Fernández did not attend. (Impre.com [5], March 25)
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