THE TRUTH ABOUT DAN MITRIONE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01365R000300210067-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 29, 2004
• Sequence Number: 67
• Publication Date: September 10, 1973
• Content Type: OPEN

t O LK t R ?t.1.t-Q.A.
Approved For Release 2005/01/13: CIA-RDP88-Q1
~ cpicmber 10, 1973 CONGRESSIONAL [R.1,CORJ) --SE
datiml. It N the Coverun:c'nt's hope that the
good n(lic."i of the Cor.u;ti:::aoner will con-
i1nnc to be used a(; rcrluiced to facilltale
eel (1c?1nrn1 s of all }:Ind;.
The Covcrnrncnt view:. claillls pot Icy
In the Context of other , .,lic(?s intended and
desgciiecr to remove the ec.nse of. grievance
and itiluctice which ioc n': Iei bile relation-
ship'; of the Indian and L)ait peonies with
the l;ovc'rnnicnts conccrltect and with their
fellow Canadians.
THE J'RUTII AI3OUT DAN ATITItIONE
Mr, BAYII. Mr. President, the Septem-
ber 9, 3973 issue of the inrlianapoils Star
carried a tremendously important article
by Dr. Brncst W. Lefever concerning the
vicious distortions and outright lies in a
currently popular film purporting to dc-
pict the events surrounding the assas.si.-
n.ation of a great American, the late Dan
Mitrio7.le.
Dr, Lefever, a distinguished scholar on
the staff of one of our most prestigious
research institutions, the Brookings In-
stitution, dcrllonst7.ates with precise de-
tail that the film, "State of Siege," far
from. brim; a factual account of the strug-
gle of heroic Latin American revolution-
aries against U.S. iniper ahsiIl, is a
shameless and coldblooded. piece of far-
left propaganda, In this connection, nor.
President, it is word. noting that the
"heroes" of the film, the Uruguayan rc:v-
olutionories called Tupcrniaros, have been
denounced by the Uruguayan Communist
Party as "Insane fanatics" and by Mos-
cow's leaders as "loudmouthed thugs" us-
ing "gangster tactics." So ice are not deal-
ing here with traditional Communist
propaganda but with ihat species of left-
ist fanaticism represented by the mur-
derous, "Black Septellber" movement as
well as by the Tupanlaros.
'l'ine most savage of the distortions in
"State of Sie:re" is the portrayal of 1)an
Mitrione as, in Dr. Lefever's words:
A ruthless, calculative, deceitful elan ...
a CIA superageltt wiliin-fly scrvin'; U.S. po-
litical and financial intercits by installing
reactionary, repressive, semi-1asc'.ist regimes
in Latin America.
In fact, however, Dan llitrione was a
deeply respected, much loved resident of
Richmond, Ind., who joined the Agency
for International Development after a
distill wished career as a police offieer,
rising from patrolman to chief in just
11 years. The father of nine children, a
devoted family man and church member,
he was active in a .Fide Variety of Rich-
mond charitable and social service ac-
tivities. A colle,ipuc of his du.ing Ili;; All)
service has de' crihed him 011 "unusually
compassionate. Ile was cora;icierlite.
Brutality was forcic,:n to his nature. The
Uruguayans vvho got to know him held
hill. in affection and respect.."
And yet this film, which explicitly
claims to be factual, lu)ws We character
based on Ban f,litriolle as an instructor
and advocate of torture, a con::cieuceless
agent of I l I t l 1 repro ;ion, the in-
stigator of r l gilt in, acts of terror'
tGainst people stri to be floc.
The real l)an Miu.ione was not only
wholly (iiflercnt as a hull.;:i1 1)eii1ct, his
job ill Uilm ,,uay was tile pcl;ectly h',;tti-
mate one of helpillit to ll~tirt local poli,.'.e
oflicfals Di advanced techniques of ad-
d30
I 1 16173
o Irl iZ ~,~= S~ ~~~
.a? -Ut ,.-
LeIlOT1:,. (?t`a.il/al Oil (t
liar to the lfcathcrmen iu :Vt:erict :ut(1 IJi"
ministration alibi crime detection. And it tint of the Tupanlaro terroists was Man A.
is worth reriiill ltmlg ourselves, Mr. Pros- Slitrione, former police chief of Itichniond,
i(lent, that the Urlmolay all 1';hich lie intl., devoted Catholic father of nh.lc who
tens a U.S. public safety adviser in Urueuay.
ol'v'ed was the model democracy of i?atill Kidnaped 11 days niltier. :.litrione had
America, a n To and open society chill'- been "tried" by a Tupanlaro "hc'oplc7 court"
N.Cterized by f _ntllnely dellhocltitic politi- and accused of beirirt a CIA or I BI agent,
rill institutions and extensive sneial lvel- of tcatkin(; Uruguayan police advanced tor-
fare llrot.r:ltn5. In addition, U111011' v' was tare tecilnigtles and of organ being a cann-
a Stauncih supporter in the United Na- pal:;tl of repression against "revolutionary"
leaders. h'or tiles" "crimes" he had been cohl-
tians and the Urbanization of American d,anned to death.
states of U.S. policies, and therefore 110 Three years later, Illtrione's rood name has
American poiicyni1 il;er in his right naind been besmirched and his family anguished
would have thought it desirable, Much by a viciously anti-American film designed
less have attenmpted, to replace the ex- to malign hint and what he stood for, and
is trill government. with a I'asci.st-type "prove" that the Tupantaros who killed
dictatol'shiu--this being one of the brill- hint were justified,
Cipal rea50113, according to L11C f31n1, for ap "osSltlesate. of of Siege" Europe's was intellectual authorized left--Con-
ATP by two
l'l0ile'S presence in Uruguay. stantin Gavras (who now calls himself "Cos-
file fully cioeu111C11tetl article by 131% ta-Gavr,ts"), a craggy-faced film director of
Lefever details a great number of other Russian-Greek parentage, and Franco So-
eiistortiolls and lies In this self-pro- liras, gifted Italian Communist scriptwriter.
claimed factual 1113n. He concludes that: It reportedly was bankrolled by Donald S.
"State of Siege" Is in. fact is cynical propa- Rugoif, M.acli;on Avenue film distributor, who
gan(la tract masquerading as a documentary. has a taste for radical themes and whose
wife plays it role in "State of Siege."
That i,9, perhaps, the kindest way to Costa c ,vras, the "Hitchcock of the left,"
put it. It is an unspeakable slur on the has spared. little effort in his attempt to con-
Inc'mory of a rood and decent mall, and WHO American critics and the world that his
it is from beginning to end a We calumny filial Is a factually exact account of the life,
an the policies and purposes of the United kidnaping and death of Slltrione.
he event., in this, film actually took
States. One does not have to be an un- place in a South American country," says
ciuestionin supporter of every one of this the opening line, followed by a close-up of a
Nat.ion's foreign policies to label as a vi- light green Cadillac with a Montevideo ii-
cious 10 the claim that we are sending cense plate.
Americans around the world to teach tor- "State of Siege," like Costa-Gavras's pre-
Una and bring clown democratically viOus box-Office hit, "A" (which Itugotf also
elected governments. reportedly underwrote to the tune of
I do not walk to be understood, Mr. $000,000), makes use of a doctuuentary for-
mat. Costa-Gavras and Solinas (who wrote
President, as denying any i lnumaker the ?Battle of Algiers") intended it to be &a-
right to slake and exhibit any political niatic journalism, accepted as fact, not
propaganda be wishes. If sonlcoile wants fiction.
to put t-0'ctller a movie purporting to This claim that "State of Siege" Is factual,
show that Adolf Hitler was a true and at least in essentials, has been accepted at
beautiful humanitarian and that nazism or near face value by many American re-
was dedicated to the hi 'hest ideals of viewers. A few took the opposite view but
rhea critics never faced the issue directly.
'~Vestel'll Cieilizotien we should not deny roiled reception raises two questions:
]line a Wen e. But those who view this Is "State of (liege" an honest documentary,
fills ought not to suppose that what they a factional thriller, an anti-U.S. propaganda,
are seeing is a rcl'upulol151y accurate doe- tract? or a combination'?
lllncnta1'y, it genuine contribution to his- Will it exert, as critics who praised it
tort'. have sur;t-extern, a constructive impact on
That, unfortunately, is the vv'idely ells- Washington's policy toward Latin America by
5C;n11.atL'[i notion about ",'State of SiC`C shocking U.S. citizens into citircnni of
"torture and repression that tile Agency for
Its director, Mr. Cost;ts-CravraS, linotv:5 International Development (AID) allegedly
exactly ss'hat be is doing; too many of carries out their name?
those who reviewed the filial and reeonl- These questions can be answered only by
minded it to the American public do trot, coinparin,g the film with the facts--the flash-
So to the extent that Dr. Lefev'er's ii, , disjointed, confusing images of "State of
article can serve as a v'itally' needed cot'- Sic?e" with a strai, tlorward march of events
to of h Meit.;iriuonwie.
rug led uay to Ili the 970 murder
rccti. ( to tl, brutal ciishomcsty of "State that
with, any
of S:? ege " it deserves the v';idest possil)le t.ltiu bttt the reactionary police State pic-
c'l'1'fi.Cy. I, tilel'('lel'e, ask unanltmous tared by Costa-Gatr'as and iolinas. Ott tile
c'OliSel.It that it be reprinted 121 it'i my contrary, it was one of the must democratic
i.il'Cly in the RECORD. and open ,,ooictics ill the world. Its uresideltt
'T here b'.'itlg 110 o').idCtl, the article and t>allislncut were popularly tic eci.
wQ:; el'clc'1'C(l to bC printed in the IIE.COiilr, TLC most nolarinus reap tt is tlio 'rups-
as follows: ntaro Liberation i'rout., a satall pnm.rnilitsly
' - , i? ti 1.. n 1110' sini-
,
(i3y i;rncst \V. Lefever) Black Sep tetuher bailers In the Ili,ltve;t. In
\vaSltinrton,---At 1:15 a.m., Monday, Aug. 1970, there -'sere l,'tcer than al th,tt.ano 'i'npa-
10, 1970, the body of is stocky, tuu:ltavell hares, with about 350 in pri' ;m or av:ailing
lr, ;u?-old plan wa=, found in the barn: scat trial. 't'heir ::,eia1 coals were ii,.,, clear. but
of a Stolen Ill:";, convertible par;ccd on C ".11o they seenwd to sock a rev'ululiouary order it
Iau n kimono at 5:ou.cviclcn liru'n:,v 1 v C:a:;Iro or :,loo.
Blood a ch'ippin:^ ,lnou :!t the ironbo aid; lice d.,,? Mier ?citric nr's rnutde.r, it 1:Jru-.
tend tn'iniil to,:,ud the curb. Ito hat horn iruayau e,nninnuli:,t ic-uict ticnotutecd the
etic,t twice in th;' head and cite in the 'l'upam.ttos as "insane f:unm' ,',,.' In 1971.
Lodv. Iiis curs were b;tnda;:cd. Iii; left :,in:- %Io.;coin called Berl "pseudo I',' '1(11 mc'nlinies''
pit bcur dc