Brazil ex-colonel who admitted torture killed

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Al Jazeera

Brazil ex-colonel who admitted torture killed

Paulo Malhaes found dead after testifying last month to carrying out torture during Brazil's 1964 to 1985 military rule.

Last updated: 26 Apr 2014 08:00

A retired Brazilian colonel who last month admitted carrying out torture during the country's 1964-1985 military rule has been found dead following a break-in at his suburban Rio home, police have said.

Paulo Malhaes, 76, was killed after three men broke into the family property in the northern suburb of Novo Iguacu on Thursday, his widow told police on Friday.

"An evaluation of the scene has already been undertaken and the wife of the victim and their valet have been questioned. The latter will be able to help produce a photofit," a police spokesman told the AFP news agency.

Police said the men held the couple and the valet in separate rooms on Thursday night before killing the colonel and escaping with a number of firearms he collected.



Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/04/brazil-ex-colonel-who-admitted-torture-killed-201442652334374680.html

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The Brazilian military dictatorship was supported by the United States.

[center]

Colonel Paulo Malhaes [/center]

[Spitfire of ATJ]

1. Meanwhile Dick Cheney is not dead yet.

[The Magistrate]

2. I Would Like To Think This Was Vengeance, Ma'am

But suspect it was enforcement of omerta....

[Judi Lynn]

4. That would make real sense. Hadn't thought of that.

The military has had total immunity until the extremely recent past.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. That makes sense since they stole his computers..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Mitrione

Lots to hide.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Maybe people forgot that Costas-Gavras' "State of Seige" was almost impossible to see

in the U.S. because it was all but literally banned. Very, very few people got the chance to see it, and it's costly trying to buy a used copy of it, as well.

Anyone wanting to check reviews on this unique film concerning a US torturer long, LONG before the Iraq war should visit Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/State-Siege-VHS-Yves-Montand/dp/6302796695/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1398633696&sr=1-2&keywords=state+of+seige

[Judi Lynn]

18. Thought of your comment when this article appeared: "Punishment or Witness Elimination?"

April 28, 2014
Punishment or Witness Elimination?

Confessed Brazilian Torturer Found Murdered

by MICHAEL UHL

At approximately four o’clock this past Thursday afternoon, Paulo Malhaes, a retired officer who served in the ‘70s during the years of Brazil’s military dictatorship, was murdered at his small farm outside of Rio de Janeiro.

Malhaes had become infamous in recent weeks, as I wrote in this space recently [1], for his lurid testimony before the Brazilian Truth Commission, where he described in graphic detail how the bodies of opponents of the repressive regime had been disappeared after being killed under torture.

According to news reports, Malhaes, his wife and a house mate, in some reports described as a valet, had arrived at the farm around two p.m. and were confronted by three intruders already in their home. The wife, Cristina Malhaes, and the house mate, later identified by police only as Rui, were restrained and led off into one room, while the former lieutenant colonel was taken to another.

Cristina and Rui were later released unharmed as the assailants departed the scene by car. Neither of the survivors reported having heard a sound to suggest the Malhaes had been worked over or “tortured.” But when police examined Malhaes’ body Friday morning they found marks on his face and neck, and have tentatively concluded that he died from asphyxiation. The only items the murderers removed from the premises were a computer, a printer, and several weapons that had belonged to the victim.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/28/confessed-brazilian-torturer-found-murdered/

[MisterP]

3. ditto Honduras

they cleaned up after themselves

the NKVD were all also closer to the sword than the average 30s Soviet citizen

[Judi Lynn]

5. The Wikipedia entry links to a great Baltimore Sun article, too:

* The CIA was instrumental in training and equipping Battalion 316. Members were flown to a secret location in the United States for training in surveillance and interrogation, and later were given CIA training at Honduran bases.

* Starting in 1981, the United States secretly provided funds for Argentine counterinsurgency experts to train anti-Communist forces in Honduras. By that time, Argentina was notorious for its own "Dirty War," which had left at least 10,000 dead or "disappeared" in the 1970s. Argentine and CIA instructors worked side by side training Battalion 316 members at a camp in Lepaterique, a town about 16 miles west of Tegucigalpa.

* Gen. Gustavo Alvarez Martinez, who as chief of the Honduran armed forces personally directed Battalion 316, received strong U.S. support - even after he told a U.S. ambassador that he intended to use the Argentine method of eliminating subversives.

* By 1983, when Alvarez's oppressive methods were well known to the U.S. Embassy, the Reagan administration awarded him the Legion of Merit for "encouraging the success of democratic processes in Honduras." His friendship with Donald Winters, the CIA station chief in Honduras, was so close that when Winters adopted a child, he asked Alvarez to be the girl's godfather.

* A CIA officer based in the U.S. Embassy went frequently to a secret jail known as INDUMIL, where torture was conducted, and visited the cell of kidnap victim Ines Murillo. That jail and other Battalion 316 installations were off-limits to Honduran officials, including judges trying to find kidnap victims.

More:
http://www.webcitation.org/5iZNHFhbk

Thanks for posting this helpful information.

[MisterP]

6. a little more from GWU

http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/latin_america/honduras/hidden_truths/hidden.htm

and Honduras is also where "the Last Patriot" got his 1500 kilos cocaine; Iran-Contra in fact just "plugged in" to existing Argentine networks

fun fact: the druglord involved was illegally deported 1988 and rioters led by the right-wing student union burned down the US Embassy's annex (since the Armed Forces were all in the Medellín Cartel); this RW student union got into power via 1) pistol threats 2) LW division 3) torturing other student leaders with batteries under police protection and 4) the military arresting their opponents until the filing deadlines were over!

[Judi Lynn]

9. Am reading the report you linked from GWU.

At the beginning I wondered why I hadn't heard more about Jesuit-trained Fr. James Carney, US-born, WWII soldier in Europe, long in Honduras helping the poor. As I read more it became clear WHY we haven't seen much on what the hell happened to that good man.

These "people" don't really have much respect for human beings, do they?

I will be finishing this important information, and keeping it for reference. Can't begin to describe how much more light it throws on the subject of what the hell happened in Central America, and how many people were actually involved.

These efforts by truth-seekers really clarify things, don't they? They are worth everyone's weight in gold.

[MisterP]

13. quite a double standard on US deaths--people get injured by one country

and we invade those who dared scratch the sacred citizens of God's republic; get gunned down running aid to Gaza or working on dams in 'Nikaragua' and a Senator will mock your parents on the Congressional floor

Honduras is as essential to Central America's story as any of its other member states

[Judi Lynn]

14. Wouldn't you know Connie Mack would rush in to take a kick at a murder victim's family?

After all, the murdered man was there trying to HELP Nicaraguans, for chrissakes, not to exploit, torture, or murder them as they tried to keep from dying of their raging poverty.

Connie Mack, who has chosen to cast his lots with the violent, extremist reactionary right-wing Cuban "exile" faction dominating Florida politics, and maid-servant of the most radical, stinking right-wing parts of US society, got dirty enough to tell the agonizing mother to basically fuck herself.

What a Republican.

This article, and its links, could bring a lot of light to a lot of people who've been in the dark about even other things, like "how did the VietNam hero, Brian Willson lose his legs back in the US, demonstrating for peace, and which one of the ABC news announcers was murdered by the US-supported Contras.

You have supplied us with first rate reading this weekend, all of which helps expand everyone's awareness of what has really been happening all these years.

Thank you.

[freshwest]

21. More chilling is the thought of the voters that elected him, knowing this. Did some of them profit?

[UpInArms]

17. from one of my favorite writers -

A Brief History of U.S. Interventions: 1945 to the Present - with "present" being 1999

The engine of American foreign policy has been fueled not by a devotion to any kind of morality, but rather by the necessity to serve other imperatives, which can be summarized as follows:
* making the world safe for American corporations;
* enhancing the financial statements of defense contractors at home who have contributed generously to members of congress;
* preventing the rise of any society that might serve as a successful example of an alternative to the capitalist model;
* extending political and economic hegemony over as wide an area as possible, as befits a "great power."

[Judi Lynn]

19. Hideous, but true.William Blum is an outstanding, principled writer.Still true, 2014, of course! n/t

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. How will I sleep tonight knowing this?

[Judi Lynn]

10. It just breaks our hearts! That poor, dear man, and his valet. n/t

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[Jesus Malverde]

11. I got to thinking about this...

Too Bad!

[WinkyDink]

16. To paraphrase a line from "Witness for the Prosecution": "Not murder; an execution."

[a la izquierda]

20. Meh.

He can join the rest of that cabal, wherever they might be. I hope his killers showed him the same mercy he had for so many of his compatriots.

[freshwest]

22. He was too dangerous to those who gained through that era. n/t