AMBASSSADOR KORRY'S CRITICISM OF OER'S WORK ON CHILE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01439R000500110024-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2000
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: June 25, 1969
• Content Type: MF

Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80B01439R00050011001=1-..,.
MEMORANDUM FOI.: Deputy Director for Intelligence;
SUBJECT . Ambassador Korry's Criticism of OER's Work on
Chile
1. The attached letter from Ambassador Korry is in response
to my transmission to him of our detailed reports on Chile and to
the visit of our senior T.-)tin American economist to Chile (copy
attached). As usuti.l, Ambassador
+ y 4 sLorry's comments are Inaccurate
and intemperate. I bring? to ..Y,.',,. atetion ones becauE y codes
have gone to Assistant Secretary Charles Meyer and to Tom Hughes.
Unless you so dir^r- ec -+ do ,not n e'n o` resp"` on"c~- o " in" mssa ar`
Korry.
2. We do not believe the facts support his charge that our
report, The Chilean Economy: Trends Under Frei and Prospects for
1969-70," is "biased" and "tendentious," and that we were unwilling
to listen to other points of view during its preparation. 'The
re t i , in augmented form, the OER
cri
Chile. The HIE was thoroughly debated by the USIB representatives
before the Board of National Estimates and no specific differences
emerged until State took a footnote to the estimate on the grounds
that it gave too pessimistic an impression of the Chilean situation.
You will recall that Ambassador Korry wrote a lengthy critique of
the NIE, including a large number of specific criticisms of the
economic part. We prepared a detailed rebuttal of Korry's points
which was sent to the Director as an attachment to Hugh Cunningham's
memorandum and which we passed informally to a few working level
analysts in CIA, and in State and DIA.
3. In preparing the memorandum for formal publication we leaned
over backward to make certain that all important positive aspects
of the Chilean scene were properly covered and that the paper was
as well balanced as possible. State reporting from Santiago has
varied widely in tone, ranging from highly optimistic when Korry
was evaluating the year's achievements to very pessimistic when he
was trying to justify some part of the aid program.
25X1A9a 4. The allegation that was unwilling to discuss
the Embassy's objections to our memorandum during his trip to
GFf^$fk' ipv 4LON
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RD 00500110024-1
DDI*IL 69
 Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80BO1439R000500110024-1
25X1A9a
3aantiago in early May is simply untrue. Vern visited several
countries during his trip but had set aside three work days plus
a weekend in Santiago in the hope of having productive discussions
with Korry and his staff. Korry and Weintraub, the number one
economist, were away. Vern did talk with John Sprott, Chief of
the Embassy Economic Section, for about one and a half hours but
Mr. Sprott apparently was unwilling to go very deeply into the
issues. He had not read our memorandum prior to arrival,
although he did read it before their discussion. Moreover, Vern
gained the distinct impression that the Embassy staff did not
particularly want to exchange views with us and was afraid of
giving their honest opinions because of Korry's domination.
25X1A9a
5. Unfortunately, _ did tell Sprott that we had written
an informal rebuttal of Korry's critique of the NIE, although he
does not remember doing so. In any event, in the QER reports which
I forwarded to him, the Ambassador received our fully analyzed
response to his position. Hence, his comment that he has not
received a copy of our rebuttal is technically correct but factually
wrong. 25X1 A
EDWARD L. ALLEN
Director
Economic Research
Attachments: (2)
1. Amb. E. M. Korry's letter to
E. L. Allen, dated 13 Jun 69
2. E. L. Allen's letter to Amb.
Korry, dated 17 Apr 69
Approved For Release 2001 80B01439R000500110024-1