“An intelligence center all by himself.” That’s how journalist John Dinges described Robert Scherrer. Today we stand on Rue Robert Scherrer.
This street commemorates a man who navigated the murky waters of international espionage. Robert William Scherrer was born in Brooklyn New York in 1935. He became an FBI agent.
Scherrer’s career took him to Latin America in the 1970s. He wasn’t just any agent. He cultivated extensive sources within intelligence communities and militaries across the Southern Cone countries. These included Argentina Chile Uruguay Paraguay and Bolivia.
These countries except Argentina were under military dictatorship since at least 1973. Scherrer’s mission was to ensure international police cooperation. He became a key figure in transmitting information from local intelligence sources to the United States. This was part of Operation Condor.
Operation Condor was a covert program of political repression and state terror involving intelligence services of several South American dictatorships. Scherrer later participated in investigations relating to Condor’s international killings.
In 1979 Scherrer revealed the existence of “phase 3” of Operation Condor. This was the program of international assassinations. Before his time in South America he spoke Spanish almost perfectly.
Officially Scherrer was in charge of legal affairs at the United States Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1975. He had been in that post for six years. He regularly traveled to Paraguay. There he personally knew General Benito Guanes and Pastor Coronel. They headed intelligence services.
Manuel Contreras head of the Chilean intelligence service declared that Scherrer was in permanent contact with the Condor representative in Buenos Aires. He received information on many occasions. The CIA also knew of the existence of Condor. It provided information on many occasions.
Scherrer investigated the assassination of Chilean General Carlos Prats in Buenos Aires in 1974. He received testimony from Michael Townley. Townley implicated the Argentine SIDE and the Milicia in the death.
After the arrest of two Chileans Amilcar Santucho and Jorge Fuentes in Paraguay Scherrer was informed of their interrogation. He passed this information to the FBI. He also informed Chilean General Ernesto Baeza of the arrest.
Scherrer told Saul Landau that Cuban Rolando Masferrer was killed by the Novo brothers on the orders of Jorge Mas Canosa. Masferrer had been planning to assassinate Fidel Castro.
Shortly after the assassination of former Bolivian president Juan José Torres Scherrer gathered evidence showing it was part of Condor. A week after the assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington Scherrer sent a cable describing Operation Condor. This cable detailed “phase 3” assassinations overseas.
John Dinges received this document in 1979. It was cited in a book about Letelier’s assassination. Scherrer claimed the United States only became aware of “phase 3” with Letelier’s death.
However Dinges showed that American intelligence knew of the plans to execute the Condor Plan months before the attack on Letelier. Joan Garcés used this cable in a lawsuit in Spain accusing the military dictatorship of Chile of a criminal cartel known as “Operation Condor.”
Scherrer became aware of planned assassinations in Paris and Lisbon by Condor agents. These plots failed but the CIA offered support to its French and Portuguese counterparts. Another project against Uruguayan Senator Wilson Ferreira Aldunate also failed. Scotland Yard offered close protection.
Robert Scherrer died in 1995. Rue Robert Scherrer stands as a reminder of a man who navigated the treacherous world of espionage. He uncovered secrets that shook governments. He left an indelible mark on history.