Chile
[back] Genocide
[CIA ousting of Allende and replacing with Pinochet. See: Project FUBELT.]
[Book excerpts] Secret Third World Wars by John Stockwell
[2008] Kissinger Efforts to Prevent Allende Taking Office in 1970
[2001] Kissinger's Crimes. How Dr. Henry Kissinger orchestrated global repression by Nora King
[2002] Met asked to question Kissinger
[2002] Kissinger may face extradition to Chile
[2002] Chile: Complaint against Kissinger
[2002] Henry Kissinger - If You Want To Kill, Do It Fast [Kissinger quote]
[1999] Kissinger and Pinochet by Peter Kornbluh
[1999] Name That Criminal by Greg Guma
Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents relating to the Military Coup, 1970-1976
Quotes
According to declassified documents that anyone can read
on the National Security Archive website, Kissinger, Nixon, and CIA Director
Richard Helms ordered a coup even before Allende assumed office. Kissinger and
Alexander Haig worked out the details, described in an October 15, 1970, memo.
"It is the firm and consistent policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup,"
wrote CIA Deputy Director of Plans Thomas Karamessines, who coordinated the
operation. "We are to continue to generate maximum pressure toward this end
utilizing every appropriate resource. It is imperative that these actions be
implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG and American hand be well
hidden."
It took two years, but the goal was
achieved. In a victory report, Naval attache' Patrick Ryan called September 11,
1972, "our D-day," noting that the coup "was close to perfect." Over the next
few years, the State Department received detailed reports on the escalating
death toll under Pinochet. Yet, a memo has Kissinger telling the general that
the US is "sympathetic with what you are trying to do here."
[1999] Name That Criminal
by Greg Guma
Twice in the 1960s, the CIA spent large sums of money to influence the
outcome of elections in Chile and to install a president of the United States'
choosing. Eventually it failed and democracy prevailed in the election of
President Salvador Allende Gossens. Under the direction of President Nixon, the
CIA organized the famous Track I and Track II destabilization of Chile in order
to oust Allende. CIA Deputy Director for Operations, Richard Helms (who later
became CIA Director) testified before the congressional Oversight Committee and
lied. He was later indicted for lying to the Congress about the Chilean
operation and plea-bargained a suspended sentence and a fine, which the
association of CIA exes paid for him. Finally, he offered a copy of the notes he
had made in the National Security Council meeting in the White House where he
was ordered to mount the Chilean operation. He had jotted down the following
instructions: "Make the Chilean economy scream." He testified that when he
return to CIA headquarters at Langley to give his staff their marching orders,
even they were dumfounded at the cynicism of the operation. Helms told them,
"Gentlemen, let's not sit around wringing our hands. We've been given a job to
do."
With the help of the U.S. military, which had solid connections with the
Chilean military through the American-sponsored international military
fraternity, and with the help of certain multinational corporations like ITT,
the CIA mounted the successful operation to oust the democratically-elected
president of Chile, who was killed in the process. At one point prior to the
coup, General Rene Schneider, the pro-U.S. head of the Chilean military, was an
obstacle because he was stubbornly supporting democracy and the constitutional
process. So they killed him too and installed the monster Pinochet in power.
About 30,000 people were killed by Pinochet, whose secret police were so violent
that they even engineered bombings in our own nation's capital. It took the best
effort of the Chilean people, eventually with diplomatic help from the United
States, to undo the damage and return the country to a democratic process 16
years later.
When Henry Kissinger was grilled by the Congress about the Chilean operation,
he had this to say: "Yes, the issues are much too important for the Chilean
voters to be left to decide for themselves."
Secret Third World Wars
by John Stockwell