Francisco Morales Bermudez ex-Peruvian military ruler dies at 100 washingtonpost com obituaries 2022 07 16 morales-burmudez-peru-dies Brian Murphy July 16 2022 Gen Francisco Morales Bermudez right with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Lima Peru on Feb 18 1976 AP 1 5 Francisco Morales Bermudez a Peruvian army general who seized power in a 1975 coup and steered the country to elections five years later but also joined other South American strongmen in a clandestine network that left hundreds of political opponents jailed or presumed killed died July 14 in the Peruvian capital Lima He was 100 Mr Morales Bermudez’s son Remigio Morales confirmed the death but did not provide a specific cause Mr Morales Bermudez was among the last surviving leaders from the military-led juntas that held sway over much of South America in the 1970s and 1980s often with support from Washington as anti-communist allies despite widespread repression and rights abuses At first Mr Morales Bermudez stood somewhat apart from the region’s right-wing rulers Days after taking power in August 1975 he vowed to keep alive some of the socialist-style policies of ousted Gen Juan Velasco including nationalization of key industries and a “militant active anti-imperialism” stance He later drifted more in line with the other military juntas courting U S support and aid and loosening state controls on the economy Another major shift aiding a regional network known as Operation Condor to arrest or extradite political opponents many later “disappeared” as apparent victims of death squads The precise number of people killed after cross-border renditions under Operation Condor remains unclear John Dinges a longtime writer on Latin American affairs and author of the 2004 book “The Condor Years ” said he has documented more than 650 cases The repression however was part of a much larger wave of brutality by South American regimes against dissidents opposition clerics journalists and others that led to tens of thousands of people imprisoned or disappeared U S government files including some uncovered in 2020 by researchers at the National Security Archive in Washington showed American officials were aware of Operation Condor led by Chilean dictator Gen Augusto Pinochet but apparently did little to rein it in The South American governments at the time used a communications network built on encryption machines from a Swiss company called Crypto AG which was secretly owned by the CIA as part of a decades-long operation with West German intelligence How the CIA had a secret window into South American political brutality In Peru meanwhile Mr Morales Bermudez received signals of support from the White House He was hosted in Washington for Latin American summits and in June 1977 first lady Rosalynn Carter joined Mr Morales Bermudez and his family at a Peruvian resort Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited Lima in early 1976 and endorsed Mr Morales Bermudez’s 2 5 “fresh vision” based on “international realities” — a clear nod toward the general’s move away from the Soviet Union and its allies “We sense some disquiet in the Cuban Embassy here ” said a classified U S Embassy cable from Lima in July 1976 part of a trove of State Department documents made public by the secret-spilling group WikiLeaks Conviction in Italy In 2017 an Italian court convicted Mr Morales Bermudez in absentia for the Operation Condor disappearance of more than 40 people including more than 20 with dual Italian citizenship A life sentence was given to Mr Morales Bermudez and other former political and military leaders in Latin America including former Bolivian president Luis García Meza Tejada In February Italy’s highest court rejected an appeal by Mr Morales Bermudez’s defense team Authorities in Buenos Aires also opened a probe into Mr Morales Bermudez over the capture of opponents of Argentina’s military regime at the time including three people suspected of links to Argentina’s dissident Montonero guerrilla movement kidnapped by Argentine soldiers in Lima in 1980 Mr Morales Bermudez denied being a formal part of Operation Condor but acknowledged his government cleared the extradition of some people wanted byArgentina’s militaryregime He often said that he needed to avoid conflicts in the region to keep focused on his goal of restoring civilian rule He allowed elections in 1980 amid an economic crisis that left his regime struggling Voters returned to the presidency Fernando Belaunde who was ousted in a 1968 coup that began 12 years of military rule in Peru In return to democracy Peru holds first elections in 17 years “Ambiguity is a good term to describe Mr Morales Bermudez ” said Dinges “He did bring the country back to an elected government He also was not of the brutality level of Pinochet and others But that doesn’t clear him either ” Francisco Remigio Morales Bermudez Cerruti was born Oct 4 1921 in Lima with a political pedigree His grandfather Remigio Morales Bermudez led Peru as president from 1890 to 1894 3 5 His father Lt Col Segundo Remigio Morales Bermudez was killed in a possibly politically motived attack in 1939 Mr Morales Bermudez took increasingly prominent roles in the military-led regime after the 1968 coup He also served briefly as economy minister in Belaunde’s first civilian government Mr Morales Bermudez twice served as Velasco’s economy minister and was Peru’s prime minister a mostly ceremonial post when he seized power in 1975 He quickly tried to bring a political truce allowing a return to Peru for all political figures journalists and others exiled under Velasco Mr Morales Bermudez ran for president in 1985 but received little voter support He is survived by his son Details on other survivors were not immediately clear In June 2021 Mr Morales Bermudez made one of his last public appearances at a voting station in San Isidro outside Lima He arrived in a wheelchair with a long scarf wrapped around his neck He made no mention of the prosecution over Operation Condor “My reflection is that we are going through difficult times ” he told a journalist “and the vote although mine is humble is necessary ” By Brian Murphy Brian Murphy joined The Washington Post after more than 20 years as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief for the Associated Press in Europe and the Middle East Murphy has reported from more than 50 countries and has written four books 4 5 5 5