Operation Bolívar
WWII German espionage in Latin America / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Bolívar[1] was the codename for the German espionage in Latin America during World War II. It was under the operational control of Section D (4) from the Foreign Security Service (Ausland-SD), and was primarily concerned with the collection and transmission of clandestine information from Latin America to Europe. Overall, the Germans were successful in establishing a secret radio communications network from their control station in Argentina, as well as a courier system involving the use of Spanish merchant vessels for the shipment of paper-form intelligence.
Operation Bolívar | |
---|---|
Part of the American Theater of World War II | |
Location | |
Objective | Establishment and operation of clandestine communications between Latin America and Europe[1] |
Date | 1940 – 1945[1][2] |
Executed by | Nazi Germany |
Outcome | Nazi strategic failure. Panama Canal remains open, sabotage of Chilean copper mines thwarted.[3] Majority of Latin American nations join the Allies, Argentina does not join the Axis. |
Argentine authorities arrested most of the German agents operating in their country in mid-1944, ending all effective Bolívar activity. Furthermore, the information collected during the operation is believed to have been more useful to the Allies, who intercepted much of the secret transmissions, than to Germany.[1][2] It also had the effect of swaying key power brokers of the region out of neutrality and into the American sphere, namely Mexico and Brazil, but also strategically positioned nations producing much needed goods such as Venezuela (oil), Chile (copper), Peru (cotton) and Colombia (platinum).