Dictatorships of six countries conspired to kidnap and kill political opponents in 1970s
An Italian court has sentenced 24 people to life in prison for their involvement in Operation Condor, in which the dictatorships of six South American countries conspired to kidnap and assassinate political opponents in each other’s territories.
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Continue reading...Rocco Morabito and three other prisoners let themselves down by rope to an adjacent farm, where they robbed the owner
An Italian mafia boss known as the “cocaine king of Milan” has escaped from prison in Uruguay where he was awaiting extradition to Italy, the South American country’s interior ministry has announced.
Rocco Morabito, 53, leader of Italy’s most powerful organised crime group – the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta – fled the prison in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, through a hole in the roof of the building.
Continue reading...Eagle with swastika under its talons, recovered in 2006, was part of German battleship’s stern that sank off the coast
A court in Uruguay has ordered the country’s government to sell a huge Nazi bronze eagle that was recovered off the South American country’s coast in 2006.
The eagle with a swastika under its talons was part of the stern of the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee that sank off Uruguay’s coast at the outset of the second world war. The divisive symbol has been kept hidden inside a sealed crate in a Uruguayan navy warehouse for more than a decade.
Continue reading...Failure leaves people in Argentina and Uruguay without electricity
Tens of millions of people across South America were left without electricity early on Sunday after a massive power failure left Argentina and Uruguay almost completely in the dark.
The Argentine newspaper Clarín said the “gigantic” power collapse – which it called the worst in Argentina’s recent history – had struck at just after 7am local time, affecting virtually the entire country as well as Uruguay, Paraguay and some cities in Chile.
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