How the DFS Categorized its Secrets (And Why It Matters)
Declassified DFS documents offer a glimpse into a strange filing system. Reports like "President's Daily Briefing" with intrigue and "Cliff's Notes on Local Unrest" for presidential visits reveal how the DFS categorized and monitored information to control the narrative.
The release of the documents of the Federal Security Directorate (DFS) represents a step forward in the construction of truth, memory and the search for justice, reparation and non-repetition of human rights violations. In this sense, it is crucial to understand how the DFS drafted its documents to obtain greater clarity when searching for and consulting information. Otherwise, this task could become extremely complex.
The report "INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL OVERVIEW IN WHICH CONTEXT THE FEDERAL SECURITY DIRECTION WAS BORN AND DEVELOPED" created in 1984, includes background information on the directorate, its organization, the institutions that composed it, the selection of personnel, among other aspects. But one of the most interesting features is the description of how these reports were produced, as each one was classified according to its content. The objective was to "assist in decision making", so they were sent daily to the President and the Secretary of the Interior on duty. Occasionally, depending on the problem, they were also sent to other government agencies.
