CHILEAN GENERALS UNFAZED BY REPORT OF CIA AID IN ALLENDE OUSTER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020121-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 121
• Publication Date: September 11, 1974
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09T00207RO01000020121-9
11 SEP 1974
Chilean generals unfazed by report of CIA
aid In Allende ouster
But disclosure causes furore in Washington
By James Nelson Goodsell
Latin America coiTespondentof
The Christian Science Monitor
One year after seizing power,
Chile's military leaders have settled
in for a long stay.
But they celebrate their first an-
niversary in office Sept. 11 amid a
sudden mushrooming of evidence that
the United States Central Intelligence
Agency, contrary to previous denials,
spent millions of dollars from 1970 to
1973 to "destabilize" the government
they ousted.
One of the reasons they cited for the
overthrow of President Salvador Al-
lende Gossens was the escalating
political and economic. chaos in Chile
that Dr. Allende seemed unable to
cope with.
Now, it appears that at least part of
that chaos was sponsored by the CIA.
Authorization reported
CIA director William Colby, in
testimony to a House subcommittee,
reportedly confirmed that his agency
had been authorized to spend as much
as $8 million in an effort to make it
impossible for Dr. Allende to govern.
The Colby testimony went counter
to sworn testimony of senior State
Department officials, and spokesman
Robert Anderson reiterated Tuesday
denials that the department was in-
volved in attempts to subvert the
Allende regime. But there have been
no denials of CIA Involvement
Suspicions of such involvement
have made the rounds over the years.
Although the Colby testimony made
hardly a ripple in Chile after its
disclosure Sunday, it is causing a
furor in Washington.
There is a feeling that the testimony
may only be the tip of the iceberg -
that more disclosures will be forth-
coming and that they may well impli-
cate a variety of Nixon adminis-
tration officials.
Already, there is question over
Secretary of State Henry A. Kis-
singer's role in the CIA activities. As
a key member of the National Secu-
rity Council and the head of its "Forty
Committee," he apparently played a
role in approving the use of funds for
the "destabilization" program in.
Chile.
Yet, in various statements, Dr.
Kissinger has over the years been
quoted as saying, in connection with
Chile, that "we prefer democratic
governments and attempt to exercise
our influence to that end; but we also
know we cannot impose our political
and legal structures on others."
It is precisely this point that is put
in doubt by the disclosures of CIA
Involvement in Chile.
Until the Colby testimony was dis-
closed over the weekend, the only
confirmed anti-Allende activity by
Washington was a United States-
sponsored credit squeeze on the part
of both Washington and international
and hemisphere lending agencies.
That squeeze made it hard for Dr.
Allende's Marxist-leaning govern-
ment to obtain credit. But in a way,
Washington could argue effectively
that credits to Chile had dropped
significantly in the last two years of
the government. of Eduardo Frei
Montalva, which immediately pre-
ceded that of Dr. Allende, due to a
feeling on the part of President Frei
and the international lenders that'
Chile needed to expend already
granted credits and begin repay-
ments before a large new influx of
credit was granted.
The Colby disclosures came in a
confidential seven-page letter from
Rep. Michael J. Harrington (D) of
Massachusetts asking further con-
gressional hearings on the CIA's role
in the. Sept. 11, 1973, military coup that
toppled Dr. Allende's government.
That coup ended Dr. Allende's ef-
forts to nudge Chile along the road to
socialism and also ended Chile's long
tradition of democratic government.
Moreover, it was accompanied by a
massive roundup of Allende suppor-
ters, escalating reports of the murder
of thousands of Chileans, and imposi-
tion of a broad military dictatorship.
On the eve of. the first anniversary
.
of the military take-over, for ex-
ample, Amnesty International, the
London-based human rights organiza-
tion, alleged that widespread torture
and executions were continuing In
Chile.
"The death roll of victims is un-
precedented in recent Latin Amer-
ican history," the. organization:
charged. Moreover,it said, "there is
little indication that the situation Is
improving or that a return to normal-
ity is intended."
Amnesty International estimated
that between 6,000 and 10,000 political
prisoners were still being detained
without trial in Chile. It added that,
k they represented every sector of
society from former Allende -min-
isters' to '., doctors. lawyers, trade
unionists, and actors.
Worldwide reaction to events in
Chile, as mirrored in the Amnesty
International report, has been largely
negative, prompting the military
leaders headed by President Augusto
Pinochet Ugarte to claim that a leftist
public opinion campaign has been
mounted against Chile.
But General Pinochet and his fellow
military officers have indicated that
they are worried about their image.
And it is reported that the Chilean
Government has hired the J. Walter
Thompson agency in New York to
start a public relations campaign
designed to improve Chile's Image.
That image may be hard to Im-
prove, however, until the military
relax some of the curbs placed on
Chile and Chileans in the past year -
dissolution of Congress, ban on Marx-
ist parties and the shutting down of all
other political activity, the censorship
of the press, and the abrogation of
many civil rights.
00856
Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09T00207RO01000020121-9