"In which South American country did the ""Dina"" secret police operate in the 1970's?"
Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990) Argentina; however, they were followed in their exile by the DINA secret police, in the frame of Operation Condor which linked South American dictatorships together against political opponents. Some 20,000–40,000 Chilean exiles were holders of passports stamped with the letter "L" (which stood for "lista nacional"), identifying them as "persona non grata" and had to seek permission before entering the country. According to a study in Latin American Perspectives, at least 200,000 Chileans (about 2% of Chile's 1973 population) were forced into exile. Additionally, hundreds of thousands left the country in the wake of the economic crises that followed the
Secret police Secret police The term secret police (or political police) refers to intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political opponents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of totalitarian regimes. Used to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian regime, secret police often, but not always, operate outside the law and are used to repress dissidents and weaken the political opposition, frequently with violence. Secret police originated in 18th-century Europe after the French Revolution, when such operations were established in an effort to detect any possible conspiracies or revolutionary subversion. The peak