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Hidden Terrors: The Truth About U.S. Police Operations in Latin America
A reconstruction of the life and milieu of Dan Mitrione, his work as a U.S. police advisor in Brazil and other South American countries, and his kidnapping and murder by Uruguayan guerrillas
343 pages, Paperback
Published July 12, 1979
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219 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Langguth
14 books28 followersA.J. "Jack" Langguth was a Professor at the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California and an American author and journalist. In addition to his non-fiction work, he is the author of several dark, satirical novels. A graduate of Harvard College, Langguth was South East Asian correspondent and Saigon bureau chief for "The New York Times" during the Vietnam war. He was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1975, and received the The Freedom Forum Award, honoring the nation's top journalism educators, in 2001.
A nonfiction study of the Reconstruction Era, is scheduled to be published in 2013.
A nonfiction study of the Reconstruction Era, is scheduled to be published in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 30, 2022
A decent, if flawed, journalistic look at Dan Mitrione and the US training of torturers in Brazil and Uruguay in the early phases of Operation Condor.
One of the major things that hurts this book is how much more information we have learned in the 45 years since it's initial release. We now know that the CIA, along with their cutouts in USAID, and the police liason program, orchestrated an international fascist reign of terror across Latin America, especially in the Southern Cone, in the late 60s into the 80s, known as Operation Condor. This book, in focusing so much on Mitrione, becomes rather narrow in comparison. It is also padded with a ton of frankly unnecessary personal information and background on some of the individuals, seemingly to try and humanize those committing unspeakable cruelty in the name of American hegemony. I was frankly ready to tear the book a new one for its attempts to justify the actions of the police and US in the name of "being even handed", but thankfully the author came to his senses in the afterword.
The United States perpetrated unfathomable evil across Latin America as part of Condor, with hundreds of thousands of mutilated corpses of the South American working classes in their wake. I highly recommend folks check out Patrice McSherry's essential work on the topic, Predatory States.
One of the major things that hurts this book is how much more information we have learned in the 45 years since it's initial release. We now know that the CIA, along with their cutouts in USAID, and the police liason program, orchestrated an international fascist reign of terror across Latin America, especially in the Southern Cone, in the late 60s into the 80s, known as Operation Condor. This book, in focusing so much on Mitrione, becomes rather narrow in comparison. It is also padded with a ton of frankly unnecessary personal information and background on some of the individuals, seemingly to try and humanize those committing unspeakable cruelty in the name of American hegemony. I was frankly ready to tear the book a new one for its attempts to justify the actions of the police and US in the name of "being even handed", but thankfully the author came to his senses in the afterword.
The United States perpetrated unfathomable evil across Latin America as part of Condor, with hundreds of thousands of mutilated corpses of the South American working classes in their wake. I highly recommend folks check out Patrice McSherry's essential work on the topic, Predatory States.
March 31, 2018
I'm reading a lot of cold war political history, particularly Latin American, and this was worth it for its personal narrative, atmosphere and clear descriptions of some of the mechanisms of US penetration of Brasil and Uruguay.
Overall, it reads like a 70s NYT journalist writing a longpiece about a side story in the cold war being played out in latin america; a little fragmented, under-researched (rushed, even?), slightly forced mix of personal stories, but it's a very important story. Dan Mitrone represents the good, patritoic servant, corrupted by fear and manipulation by those in power, but in the end, an individual that practiced something unforgivable and evil, an instrument of the repressive state. This is the theme of the cold war, of any war, that people get pushed to extremes, having dedicated themselves unquestioningly to a cause, most often patriotism, if not money.
The characterization isn't great, and its hard to judge in this what Dan's complicity is, exactly. He seems a very simple, duty-bound man. But without doubt, he increased the efficiency and ruthlessness of repressive militarized police groups of a few (US supported) dictatorships.
And what effects does all this have on now? The level of cruelty, the entrenched class disparity and wars in south America, the inherited traumas of violence and distrust. Read about Maria Auxiliadora Lara Barcelos (Dora) for a clearly heart-breaking outcome of Dan's service. So much destruction of hope and life and endless grief....
Its crazy to think that the early CIA was considered 'left-wing' by republicans, as were other smaller agencies attempting to spread (american) liberal democracy globally, via student groups, military aid, labour union infiltration, campaign rigging, assassinations, black-list sharing etc. Even, straight after the war, funding fascist groups - anything to prevent the spread of socialist ideals, but mostly, it seems, and always seems, to protect, and kill for, american corporate interest.
Highly educated, good-intention men, with roots in both 1930s progressivism and the horror of the second world war. But rocket-fueled by unprecedented wealth and power of post war USA and the insanely arrogant and naive patriotic fervour; any other way of living, any respect for sovereignty, or even the lives of "other"s became unthinkable, and still largely is. Like a deranged, pepped-up ivy league jock, unhinged by unprocessed traumas of war, lightning bolt ambition, alcoholism and zero empathy, the CIA et al gallivant(ed) around the world destabilizing any sovereign self-organization and telling everyone how to live. I don't know why its called 'neo'-colonialism.
But Dan Mitrione is one of the many simpler, middle men; a conscientious midwestern small-town police chief and family man, who ends up teaching torture methods to Brasilian and Uruguayan policemen. Its like a global David Lynch film. I would love to see another book on Mitrione, with deeper research and more context. I think we need more personal stories of these "hidden histories" because personal narratives carry so much more accessible power than general historical non-fiction, and give you a real, less academic framework. He's an important archetype, one of these many schizophrenic instruments of dehumanizing power, blinded by the cheap identity of patriotism.
Overall, it reads like a 70s NYT journalist writing a longpiece about a side story in the cold war being played out in latin america; a little fragmented, under-researched (rushed, even?), slightly forced mix of personal stories, but it's a very important story. Dan Mitrone represents the good, patritoic servant, corrupted by fear and manipulation by those in power, but in the end, an individual that practiced something unforgivable and evil, an instrument of the repressive state. This is the theme of the cold war, of any war, that people get pushed to extremes, having dedicated themselves unquestioningly to a cause, most often patriotism, if not money.
The characterization isn't great, and its hard to judge in this what Dan's complicity is, exactly. He seems a very simple, duty-bound man. But without doubt, he increased the efficiency and ruthlessness of repressive militarized police groups of a few (US supported) dictatorships.
And what effects does all this have on now? The level of cruelty, the entrenched class disparity and wars in south America, the inherited traumas of violence and distrust. Read about Maria Auxiliadora Lara Barcelos (Dora) for a clearly heart-breaking outcome of Dan's service. So much destruction of hope and life and endless grief....
Its crazy to think that the early CIA was considered 'left-wing' by republicans, as were other smaller agencies attempting to spread (american) liberal democracy globally, via student groups, military aid, labour union infiltration, campaign rigging, assassinations, black-list sharing etc. Even, straight after the war, funding fascist groups - anything to prevent the spread of socialist ideals, but mostly, it seems, and always seems, to protect, and kill for, american corporate interest.
Highly educated, good-intention men, with roots in both 1930s progressivism and the horror of the second world war. But rocket-fueled by unprecedented wealth and power of post war USA and the insanely arrogant and naive patriotic fervour; any other way of living, any respect for sovereignty, or even the lives of "other"s became unthinkable, and still largely is. Like a deranged, pepped-up ivy league jock, unhinged by unprocessed traumas of war, lightning bolt ambition, alcoholism and zero empathy, the CIA et al gallivant(ed) around the world destabilizing any sovereign self-organization and telling everyone how to live. I don't know why its called 'neo'-colonialism.
But Dan Mitrione is one of the many simpler, middle men; a conscientious midwestern small-town police chief and family man, who ends up teaching torture methods to Brasilian and Uruguayan policemen. Its like a global David Lynch film. I would love to see another book on Mitrione, with deeper research and more context. I think we need more personal stories of these "hidden histories" because personal narratives carry so much more accessible power than general historical non-fiction, and give you a real, less academic framework. He's an important archetype, one of these many schizophrenic instruments of dehumanizing power, blinded by the cheap identity of patriotism.
April 14, 2020
A brave and expertly written journalistic investigation of the Nazi-level horrors inflicted on Brazilians and Uruguayans by the American government. Dan Mitrione was a small town Hoosier cop and family man who was sent to Brazil and later Uruguay to "train" the police of these countries. There he tortured dissidents and homeless "guinea pigs," priding himself in keeping his victims alive as long as possible while exerting the maximum amount of pain, all the while devising novel torture methods.
This shameful chapter of our history should be known cold by every American, and yet here the book languishes, with not even a cover provided. To add insult to injury, Goodreads suggests I might like a book on "Conspiracy Theories" because I liked this one.
This shameful chapter of our history should be known cold by every American, and yet here the book languishes, with not even a cover provided. To add insult to injury, Goodreads suggests I might like a book on "Conspiracy Theories" because I liked this one.
September 7, 2011
Decent overview of the Dan Mitrione kidnapping. Langguth weaves together how the Brazilian and Uruguayan repression/resistance influenced each other, and how events spiraled into USAID officer, Mitrione's death. The Tupamaros lost much of their sympathy domestically after this incident and the dictatorship capitalized on the event, using it as an excuse to crack down on protesters.
June 22, 2020
one of the classic books on the history of Dan Mitrione
In a meeting with Manuel, Mitrione explained that the rules were changing and that the U.S. advisers would not be spending much time at the Montevideo police headquarters. Instead, Mitrione had secured a house in the city's Malvm section with a cellar and a door to the inside from the garage.
Mitrione personally oversaw the soundproofing of the cellar. He put a record of Hawaiian music on a phonograph at full volume and went upstairs to be sure it could not be heard in the living quarters. He also insisted that his team fire a pistol downstairs while he listened above for any trace of sound. "Good, very good,"' Manuel quotes Mitrione as saying. "'This time I could hear absolutely nothing. Now you stay here while I go down."' That testing went on over and over again.
The first course to be held in the cellar drew largely from graduates of the International Police Academy in Washington. The early sessions dealt in insinuation: descriptions of the human anatomy and the central nervous system. "Very soon," Manuel wrote later, "things turned bad. As subjects for the first testing, they took beggars, known in Uruguay as bichicones, from the outskirts of Montevideo, along with a woman from the border with Brazil. There was no interrogation, only a demonstration of the different voltages on the different parts of the human body, together with the uses of a drug to induce vomiting - I don't know why or for what - and another chemical substance. "The four of them died."
Reading Manuel's book, I particularly regretted at this point not being able to question him. Was Mitrione present while the instruction was being given? Did he witness the deaths? The wording is vague. In Brazil, so far as the victims knew, no U.S. adviser attended the torture class. They were too prudent to compromise themselves so directly.
"Before all else, you must be efficient. You must cause only the damage that is strictly necessary, not a bit more. We must control our tempers in any case. You have to act with the efficiency and cleanness of a surgeon and with the perfection of an artist. This is a war to the death. Those people are my enemy. This is a hard job, and someone has to do it. It's necessary. Since it's my turn, I'm going to do it to perfection.If I were a boxer, I would try to be the world champion. But I'm not. But though I'm not, in this profession, my profession, I'm the best."
During the session, you must avoid letting a person lose all hope of life. If you push too far, they become resigned to die. "Always leave them some hope, a distant light."
Manuel quotes Mitrione as continuing: "When you get what you want, and I always get it, it might be good to keep the session going a little longer with more hitting and humiliation. Not to get information now but as a political instrument, to scare him away from any further rebel activity."
---
In remarks at the opening of the show, Sinatra said, "I never met Richmond's son Dan Mitrione. Yet he was my brother, just as you and I and Jerry (Lewis) are ..."
In a meeting with Manuel, Mitrione explained that the rules were changing and that the U.S. advisers would not be spending much time at the Montevideo police headquarters. Instead, Mitrione had secured a house in the city's Malvm section with a cellar and a door to the inside from the garage.
Mitrione personally oversaw the soundproofing of the cellar. He put a record of Hawaiian music on a phonograph at full volume and went upstairs to be sure it could not be heard in the living quarters. He also insisted that his team fire a pistol downstairs while he listened above for any trace of sound. "Good, very good,"' Manuel quotes Mitrione as saying. "'This time I could hear absolutely nothing. Now you stay here while I go down."' That testing went on over and over again.
The first course to be held in the cellar drew largely from graduates of the International Police Academy in Washington. The early sessions dealt in insinuation: descriptions of the human anatomy and the central nervous system. "Very soon," Manuel wrote later, "things turned bad. As subjects for the first testing, they took beggars, known in Uruguay as bichicones, from the outskirts of Montevideo, along with a woman from the border with Brazil. There was no interrogation, only a demonstration of the different voltages on the different parts of the human body, together with the uses of a drug to induce vomiting - I don't know why or for what - and another chemical substance. "The four of them died."
Reading Manuel's book, I particularly regretted at this point not being able to question him. Was Mitrione present while the instruction was being given? Did he witness the deaths? The wording is vague. In Brazil, so far as the victims knew, no U.S. adviser attended the torture class. They were too prudent to compromise themselves so directly.
"Before all else, you must be efficient. You must cause only the damage that is strictly necessary, not a bit more. We must control our tempers in any case. You have to act with the efficiency and cleanness of a surgeon and with the perfection of an artist. This is a war to the death. Those people are my enemy. This is a hard job, and someone has to do it. It's necessary. Since it's my turn, I'm going to do it to perfection.If I were a boxer, I would try to be the world champion. But I'm not. But though I'm not, in this profession, my profession, I'm the best."
During the session, you must avoid letting a person lose all hope of life. If you push too far, they become resigned to die. "Always leave them some hope, a distant light."
Manuel quotes Mitrione as continuing: "When you get what you want, and I always get it, it might be good to keep the session going a little longer with more hitting and humiliation. Not to get information now but as a political instrument, to scare him away from any further rebel activity."
---
In remarks at the opening of the show, Sinatra said, "I never met Richmond's son Dan Mitrione. Yet he was my brother, just as you and I and Jerry (Lewis) are ..."
December 10, 2020
An incredible look at the US's disgusting level of influence in Brazil's dictatorship from the perspective of one man: a trained torturer.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews