2023-09-03 08:33:19
Last week, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the State Department released two 50-year-old documents related to the coup in Chile. The democratically elected left-wing government of President Salvador Allende was overthrown in 1973 by the Chilean army with the secret support of the CIA. After that, a US-backed dictatorship was established under the leadership of General Augusto Pinochet. The daily reports on the coup for President Richard Nixon on September 8 and 11 have now been made public. On these days, the Chilean army took control of the country. The declassification came after repeated calls from progressive members of the current Congress, human rights groups and the Santiago government to increase transparency. Nixon also supported Pinochet Nixon and the national security adviser at the time, Henry Kissinger, strongly opposed the left-wing Allende government and tried to prevent its rule. The National Security Archive at George Washington University released a statement regarding the leaked documents, saying that “[a dokumentumok] they contain information that went to President Nixon when the military takeover that he and [Kissinger] strove for three years, it was realized”. Nixon’s daily briefing on September 8, 1973 states: “Numerous reports have been received…indicating the possibility of an early military coup…Navy forces plotting to overthrow the government now have the support of the Army and Air Force”. The document – which was written three days before the coup – continues by saying that a fascist paramilitary group is “blocking roads and provoking clashes with the national police, further increasing the tension caused by continuous strikes and opposition political actions. President Allende said earlier this week that he believed the armed forces would demand his resignation if he did not change his economic and governance policies. On September 11, according to Nixon’s daily briefing, “plans by Navy officers to launch military action against the Allende government are being supported by some key units of the Army. . . . The Navy is also counting on the assistance of the Air Force and the National Police.” After Allende initially refused to resign, tanks opened fire, air force jets launched missile attacks and bombed the presidential palace. The troops stormed in and Allende shot himself. The Chilean coup “Ami [a puccsot] what followed was a brutal decades-long reign of terror and repression in which tens of thousands of Chileans were killed, tortured or disappeared by the Pinochet regime, which continued to receive support from the CIA.” – wrote Common Dreams contributor Jake Johnson. In fact, in 2000, the CIA admitted that “Many of Pinochet’s officers were involved in systematic and widespread human rights abuses… Some of them were CIA or [amerikai] were army contacts or agents”. Peter Kornbluh, Chile expert at the National Security Archive, said: “I am pleased that the Freedom of Information Act, along with some positive diplomatic activity by the Chilean government, has broken through a secrecy barrier that has prevented us from learning about this background material for 50 years.” He added that he hopes the White House will soon “release all of them [a puccsal és az azt követő időszakkal kapcsolatos, Chilével kapcsolatos amerikai iratot], which has inexplicably remained secret even after all this time”. As the Los Angeles Times noted, the US government “favored Pinochet, who enjoyed good economic and military relations with Washington for most of his 17-year rule while oppressing many of his own people.” During the Cold War, the CIA was involved in the overthrow of governments throughout Latin America, while fomenting a series of proxy wars and civil wars, as well as conducting terrorist campaigns against others. The USA still maintains the more than 60-year-old embargo against Cuba and still operates the infamous torture prison at Guantanamo Bay. In recent years, the US has also supported coups against the governments of Venezuela and Bolivia. The US currently applies sanctions against Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. Among next year’s presidential candidates, there is significant support for a possible military invasion of Mexico, which is said to be aimed at combating drug trafficking.
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