Brazil looks into Operation Condor

An inquiry with an unprecedented level of government support has been launched in Brazil into human rights abuses during the country's period of military rule.

The Brazilian president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, has ordered the release of military files to help the inquiry, which will investigate Operation Condor -- an alleged joint campaign involving several South American military regimes against left-wing individuals and organisations.

One member of the human rights commission leading the investigation, Nilmario Miranda, said newly released official documents showed Brazil had an institutionalised involvement in Operation Condor, and exchanged left-wing prisoners with military governments in Argentina and Uruguay.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service