DOES CHILE'S DICTATOR DESERVE TO BUY WASHINGTON'S GUNS?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100540002-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: August 6, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100540002-1
ARTICLE APPEA,gED
ON PAGE -rg0_-5Z_
LOS ANGELES TIMES
8 AUGUST 1982
Does Chile's Dictator Deserve
to Buy Washington's Guns?
By KENNETH FREED
of Salvador Allende, the elected Marxist president. U.S.
law prohibits arms sales to a number of countries-and
Chile is on the list-unless the President certifies that
the country in questipn has made significant progress in
human rights. i- The second, more specific obstacle to better relations
Is the case of Orlando Letelier. a former Allende foreign
minister and Pinochei foe who was assassinated on the
streets of Washington in September. 1975. A federal
grand jury Indicted three former Chilean securityy
agents for complicity in the deaths of Letelier and his
American assistant, Ronnie Moffit. However. Chile has
refused to extradite the three men or try them in
Chilean courts.
It was a basic tenet of American policy under the ad-
ministrations of Cerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter that
relations with Santiago would not be improved until the
three Chileans were brought to justice, a stand that
Reagan officials have supported until now.
On the basis of recent interviews with American and
Chilean officials here, it is clear the Reagan Administra-
tion wants to certify that the Pinochet regime has im-
proved its human-rights record and should be allowed
to buy American arms. But it is clear that continued U.S.
congressional opposition Is forcing the Administration
to move slowly for fear of inciting American public
opinion.
Richard Betts, an adviser to the National Security
S ANTIAGO. Chile-Reagan Administration offidati ?,. Council and the dentral Intelligence Agency, said here
have been malsing--piigrlmages--here recent : recently that C-ongress is unlikely to approve arms safes
weeks, seeking'better relations with Chile and an time soon. In a recent seminar here sponsored by
tog to find grounds to support a decision to resume arms'' the . Embassy and the Chilean army, Rep. David R.
"Its to the hard-line military dictatorship of Gen. Au. BoYlen'(D-Mist.) seconded that view and said that the
gusto Pinches. American press has prejudiced Congress and the Ameri-
The process raises questions both about the need for can people against the Pinochet government.
improfed relations and the American commitment to According to the U.S. Embassy, abuse of human
seek decent human-rights practices by. right-wing. rights under the Pinochet government has decreased
anti-communist governments. considerably, particularly over the last two years. "Dis-
. Citing a need for more flexibility in American policy... appearances" of citizens at the hands of government
the Administration has sought In Its 18 months in office agents have all but ended, embassy officials contend,
to redefind U.S. dealings with military regimes in South and? repgrta of torture have decreased. Some cautious
America, particularly toward ending the isolation list opposition has even developed In the local press, partlc-
posed on Chile by the Ford and Carter presidencies. , ularly in economic matters. Even human-rights groups
This Is being done In the name of stability in the south- acknowledge that the current climate is less severe
ern half of South America and because of the perceived than during the 1973-1978 period, a time of brutal
need to strengthen anti-communist governments government repression.
Against any Soviet-Cuban activity in the area. But Is this apparent change enough to reverse a poll-
w
But to create a ne
climate, the Reagan Administra- cy that stretches back over three American presiden-
tion must first remove congressionally imposed re- cies?
shunts on bilateral ties. particularly on arms sales, sus- Chile* is still far from a happy place, particularly for
pended since 1976. the families of the more than 600 "disappeared" persons
? There are two major obstacles to turning the Con- from earlier years. The ban on political activity remains.
grew around. First is the question of human rights. as evidenced by a phone call a Pinochet aide made to a
bile has been judged a major violator of human rights .leader of the Christian Democrat Party, the major oppo-
since Pinochet took power in the bloody 1973 overthrow . sition party still maintaining a semblance of structure.
"lie told me that recent statements by some of us
were getting out of hand," the Christian Democrat said
In an interview. He didn't threaten me outright, but he
made it clear that it shouldn't happen again."
Ile said the call reminded him of what happened to
four other Christian Democrats last year when they
tried to talk to visiting American officials. All four were
exiled and remain barred from Chile.
The Pinochet regime also practices "Internal exile," a
system under which the government sends dissidents to
camps in desolate rural areas, not unlike the Soviet
Union's practice of exiling opponents to Siberia.
Even though the Chilean press can mildly c1rlticize
the government's economic policies, political criticism is
unacceptable. Nor can local editors run stories casting
aspersions on Pinochet or members of his family. And.
of course. Chile remains a military dictatorship. a fact
underlined in unsubtle ways, submachine gun-toting-
police and soldiers standing on street corners and the
nightly curfew. A state of siege Is still In effect, even
though anti-government terrorism has been virtually
eliminated.
"Yes, they no longer kill and kidnap people as much
anymore," said a Roman Catholic priest involved in hu-
man-rights work. "But they don't have to anymore.
Pinochet has killed or driven out most of the active dis-
sidents and he has made the rest of us afraid. Is this an
Improvement? I don't think so."
.C0iVTrNUE.D
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100540002-1