U.S. CHARGES 2 ITT AIDES LIED TO SENATE ON FIRM'S BID TO STOP '70 ALLENDE VICTORY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP09T00207R001000030070-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 5, 2011
• Sequence Number: 70
• Publication Date: March 21, 1978
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/05: CIA-RDP09T00207RO01000030070-5
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE 2
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
21 March 1978
U .S. Charges 2 ITT Aides Lied to Senate
On Firm's Bid to Stop '70Allende Vco rY .
.
By JERRY LANDAUER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WASHINGTON-After months of indeci-
sion, the government filed criminal charges
against two executives of International Tele-
phone & Telegraph Corp. for giving false
testimony to the Senate about the company's
clandestine efforts to stop Marxist Salvador
Allende from becoming president of Chile in
1970. ,
But the Justice Department dropped pos-
sible prosecution of ITT Chairman Harold
Geneen. This decision brought cover-up ac-
cusations from Edward Korry, the Amerl
can ambassador in Chile at the time of Mr.
Allende's rise to power. In a telephone inter-
view, Mr. Korry alleged that Mr. Geneen,
isn't being prosecuted because "he knows
too much" about the Central Intelligence
Agency's relationships with U.S.-based
multinational corporations around the globe.
ITT hadn't any immediate comment on
the former ambassador's allegations regard-
ing At. Geneen.
In another development, the Overseas
Private Investment Corp., or OPIC,. made
available documents showing that the CIA
lied about its own-and ITT's-secret fi-
nancing of Mr. Allende's chief opponent in
the 1970 election.
Possibly in part because the CIA refused
to acknowledge that ITT cooperated with the
agency's efforts In Chile, OPIC, the govern-
ment agency that insures U.S. companies'
investments abroad, eventually honored
ITT's $92.5 million claim arising from the
Allende government's expropriation of ITT
properties.
The Justice Department's charges
against Mr. Geneen's subordinates, Senior
Vice President Edward Gerrity and Robert
Berrellez, a regional public relations man-
ager, were filed just as the five-year statute
of limitations was running out on some of the
alleged-criminal acts. The two men waived
their rights to indictment by a grand jury,
opting instead to let the government file
"criminal informations," each charging six
felony counts of perjury, making false state-
ments and obstruction of-the OPIC proceed-
ings.
ITT promptly issued a -statement ex-
pressing confidence In the two men and pre-
dicting a verdict, of innocence after trial,
"Our executives have cooperated (with the
Justice Department) and have had the full
support and backing of the corporation," the
company's statement emphasized. ITT
doesn't know of any "reason why their testi-
mony would have been other than truthful
and ITT continues to have confidence in Mr.
Gerrity's and Mr. Berrellez's integrity. They
both continue to serve as valuable execu-
tives of ITT. We are fully confident they will
be found innocent."
Despite the company's strong affirmation
of the men's innocence, Messrs. Gerrity and ++~
Berrellez actually have been plea bargain-
ing
with Justice Department attorneys for
several weeks. In all likelihood, sources
said, the government ultimately will accept
pleas of guilty to relatively minor misde-
meanor counts, as it did in the case of for-
mer CIA Director Richard Helms. Mr.
Helms pleaded guilty to giving less than
candid testimony to congressional commit-
tees investigating the CIA's involvement n
the 1970 Chilean elections.
Yet even if the accused executives don't
choose to stand trial, the details of U.S. gov- J
ernment and corporate intervention in the
1970 Chilean elections are generally known
starting with hearings by the Senate sub-
committee on Multinational Corporations
that began in March 1973. The Senate Intelligence Committee sup-
plied further details in 1975, including an as-
sertion, based on examination of CIA files,
that the CIA rendered "advice on how to
pass" $350,000 to Mr. Allende's opponents
by ITT. "A roughly equal amount was passed
by other U.S. companies," the Intelligence
Committee related; these companies
! haven't all been Identified yet.
Besides, according to the two Senate
committees and to the hearing record of an
OPIC arbitration panel, ITT offered to give 1
the. U.S. government $1. million as part of I
any plan to thwart Mr. Allende's electionN
discussed plans with the CIA to create eco-
nomic chaos in Chile after he became presi-
dent (Mr. Allende was ultimately over,
thrown by a military coup); solicited other
.companies to join ITT's anti-Allende initia-
tives, and urged the White House "to see
that Allende doesn't get through the crucia'i
next six months.".
. Mr. Geneen testified ' about the ' docu
mented events under oath to the Sena
multinational subcommittee on April 2,
"ITT didn't take any steps to block the el~ec-,
tion of Salvador Allende as president of,
Chile," the executive swore. "Nor did IT r
contribute money to any person or to any
agency of any government to block the elec-
tion of Dr. Allende." Mr. Geneen also as-
serted.
The CIA fed the same story to OPIC be-
ginning in 1972. when that agency was con-
sidering ITT's risk insurance claim for ex-
propriated properties of the corporation's
Chile Telephone Co. .
As OPIC explained to the CIA in 'a letter,
the U.$. government isn't liable if ITT
provoked the expropriation "unless the ac-
tions by the company were taken at the spe-
cific request of the U.S. government."
In a reply letter that turned out to be less
than truthful, the CIA's general counsel re-
sponded that ITT didn't carry out any "ac-
tivities at the request of this agency and we
don't know what activities. if any, the com-
pany in fact engaged in." - -
OPIC nevertheless rejected ITT's Insur-
ance claim, whereupon the company exer-
cised Its legal right to convene a panel of at,
bitrators. Again ODIC asked the CIA for in-
formation about- ITT's intervention in the
Chilean election and.. again the intelligence
agency chose to protect its relationship with
ITT rather than tell the truth.
"We haven't any documented informa-
tion which would clarify for OPIC the basic
question of whether ITT did engage In ac-
tions which 'provoked' the government of
Chile into nationalization proceedings
against ITT's subsidiary, the Chile Tele-
phone Co.." the CIA said, declining to permit testimony by William Broe, in charge
of clandestine operations for Latin America.
In November 1974. the arbitrators ruled
in the company's favor. Among other find-
ings, the arbitrators. held that ITT's activi-
ties in Chile were "very limited" and that
the company's 5359.000 political contribution
-"if in fact one had been made"-didn't
constitute a violation of Chilean law.
OPIC decided some time ago that it
wouldn't reopen Its proceedings in the ITT
expropriation cases ? .
Mr. Gerrity. among other things, told the
i Senate subcommittee that the company's $1
million stop-Allende offer to the U.S. govern-
ment was intended "to, confirm our confi-
dence in and to help the Chilean economy"
and that Mr. Geneen's apparent motive was
to help launch low-cost housing or farming
projects for the poor. Mr: Berrellez, among!
other alleged crimes, was accused of partic- ,
ipating In a conspiracy to prevent the Senate
panel from learning about exchanges of in-
formation between ITT executives and CIA
officials.
Approved For Release 2011/08/05: CIA-RDP09T00207RO01000030070-5