Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the Cia, and the Mafia

by Paul L. Williams

When Condor was launched in 1969, Argentina—unlike Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay—posed no real problem. The majority of the country remained deeply conservative and devoutly Catholic. Juan Perón had returned from exile to defeat President Héctor Cámbora in the general election. This, for the Church and the CIA, was a happy development. Cambora, during his short term, had restored diplomatic relations with Cuba and had granted amnesty to all political prisoners. The country had fallen into chaos as six hundred social conflicts, strikes, and factory occupations erupted throughout the country. Perón, to no one’s surprise, received a whopping 62 percent of the vote and began his third term as president on October 12, with Isabel, his wife, as vice president. Licio Gelli was a guest of honor at the inauguration. Following the ceremony, Perón knelt at the feet of the P2 Worshipful Master. Italy’s prime minister Andreotti was also in attendance but failed to receive such a gesture of obeisance from the Argentine president.15 The act was more than symbolic. Gelli had mustered substantial support for Perón’s return from the CIA and funneled over $70 million in black funds to Perón’s Civic Front of National Liberation. The day before his return to Buenos Aires, Perón had knelt before Gelli in a secret ceremony to become a member of the P2. The rite was performed within Perón’s villa in the Puerta de Hierro district of Madrid.