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Argentine Ex-president Videla Refuses to Testify Before Judge
Argentine former president Jorge Videla Friday refused to make any declaration before a judge investigating "Operation Condor," a 1970s plot by former South American military governments to kill dissidents.
After declining to answer questions from judge Rodolfo Canicoba, the retired general told local reporters that "I won't make any statement."
Videla has been under house arrest since July 9 for his presumed participation in the repressive plan.
Videla, who headed the Argentine military government in the 1976-1983 period, becomes the first former military leader from the six South American nations involved to face justice for the Condor Plan.
The Condor Plan, set up in the Chilean capital of Santiago in 1975, was an illegal repressive operation by the ex-military governments in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil, through which governments hunted down opposition members, or leftists real and perceived, who sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
Videla is also under investigation for stealing babies born of jailed leftists and giving them to friends for adoption.
The investigation also involves former military rulers of Paraguay and Chile, Alfredo Stroessner and Augusto Pinochet, whose extradition has been requested by judge Canicoba for their roles in Operation Condor.
Like many other former officers, Videla had been pardoned for his role in the disappearance and presumed death of thousands of political dissidents. But he was detained in 1998 on charges of baby theft, which are not covered by laws passed in 1986 and 1987 that protect former military personnel from prosecution for crimes perpetrated during the dictatorship.
Videla is the second former Argentine head of state to face judicial process. Carlos Menem, who served as president from 1989 to 1999, is also under house arrest on suspicion of involvement in illegal arms sales to Ecuador and Croatia in the 1990s.
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