[Forty nine years after Pinochet’s putsch, Presidential and CIA
documents remain secret. The National Security Archive calls for full
disclosure of the covert history of U.S. involvement as the countdown
to the 50th anniversary of the military coup begins]
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THE COUP IN CHILE: WHAT DID NIXON KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?
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National Security Archive
September 12, 2022
National Security Archive
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_ Forty nine years after Pinochet’s putsch, Presidential and CIA
documents remain secret. The National Security Archive calls for full
disclosure of the covert history of U.S. involvement as the countdown
to the 50th anniversary of the military coup begins _
,
WASHINGTON D.C., SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 - One day after the violent,
U.S.-backed, coup d’état in Chile, the overthrow of Salvador
Allende was the very first item in President Richard Nixon’s
September 12, 1973, CIA intelligence report—known as the President's
Daily Brief (PDB). “Chile’s President Allende is dead and the
armed forces, together with the carabineros, are working to
consolidate their successful coup,” stated a short summary of
principal developments around the world. On page 1 of the PDB, the CIA
informed Nixon that the members of the new military junta “are all
respected and experienced leaders” but not supporters of democracy.
According to the PDB, “the new rulers have declared [the Chilean]
Congress to be in recess.”
But on the day the military moved to overthrow Salvador Allende,
September 11, 1973, what the CIA informed President Nixon remains TOP
SECRET. Forty-nine years after one of the most infamous military coups
in Latin American history, the intelligence report in Nixon’s
9/11/1973 PDB on Chile continues to be classified as sensitive
national security information. Nixon’s PDB of September 8, 1973,
which is believed to contain initial CIA and Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) reporting on specific coup preparations by the Chilean
military, also remains completely redacted, almost half a century
later
President Nixon, as the historical record shows, had a vested interest
in the Chilean coup. Three years earlier, on September 15, 1970, Nixon
had given direct orders to CIA director Richard Helms to “save
Chile” by instigating a military coup to block the inauguration of
President-elect Salvador Allende, who had been democratically voted
into office on September 4, 1970. “Make the economy scream,” Nixon
mandated, according to Helms’ notes from the meeting. “Full time
job, best men we have.” After Allende was inaugurated on November 3,
1970—despite concerted CIA clandestine operations to kidnap the
pro-constitution commander-in-chief of Chile’s armed forces, General
Rene Schneider, resulting in his assassination—Nixon convened his
National Security Council to order broad U.S. government efforts to
destabilize Allende’s ability to govern. “If there [is] any way to
unseat A[llende],” Nixon advised his national security team,
according to a second set of notes taken by Helms at the November 6,
1970, meeting, “better do it.”
[President's Dayly Brief ]
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_The CIA's briefing to President Nixon on the day of the military coup
in Chile--completely censored. (Redactions are white in the
original.)_
As the countdown to the 50th anniversary of the coup next year begins,
the National Security Archive called on the Biden administration and
the CIA to fully declassify the PDBs and all remaining records related
to covert operations in Chile. “Secrecy over time erodes
credibility, especially regarding national security,” according to
John Dinges, author of _The Condor Years_ and a member of the
Archive’s advisory board. “Continuing to hide key documents from
public view” after half a century, he noted, “prevents finding a
credible answer to the questions about U.S. actions in Chile.”
Peter Kornbluh, who directs the Archive’s Chile Documentation
Project, said the Archive would use the Freedom of Information Act and
all legal means to press for full disclosure of the controversial
history of U.S. ties to the coup before the 50th anniversary.
“Almost half a century later,” Kornbluh noted, “critical records
on Chile remain secret”—among them the Nixon PDBs, CIA records on
the cases of two U.S. citizens, Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi, who
were seized and executed in the days following the coup, and CIA
support for the post-coup creation of the repressive Chilean secret
police, DINA, including documents on the controversial decision at the
CIA’s Langley headquarters in 1975 to put DINA director Col. Manuel
Contreras on the CIA payroll. “There is still more to be learned
about this dark and sordid episode of covert intervention,” Kornbluh
stated, “in order to finalize the judgement of history on the U.S.
role in Chile.”
THE DOCUMENTS
[Document-01] [[link removed]]
Document 01
CIA, "THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF," TOP SECRET, BRIEFING PAPER,
SEPTEMBER 11, 1973
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Sep 11, 1973
Source
CIA release
On the day of the military coup in Chile, the CIA presents
intelligence information on the progress of efforts to overthrow
Salvador Allende to President Nixon. The information remains entirely
redacted in this document.
[Document-02] [[link removed]]
Document 02
CIA, "THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF," TOP SECRET, BRIEFING PAPER,
SEPTEMBER 8, 1973
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Sep 8, 1973
Source
CIA release
Three days before the coup, the CIA provides President Nixon with a
full page of intelligence on preparations in Chile to overthrow
Allende. The information given to the President is likely to be drawn
from intelligence reports sent by the CIA and the DIA from Santiago
that day. The information provided to Nixon, however, remains entirely
censored by the CIA.
[ChilePDB9_12_73]
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Document 03
CIA, “THE PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEF,” TOP SECRET, BRIEFING PAPER,
SEPTEMBER 12, 1973
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Sep 12, 1973
Source
CIA release
The day after the coup in Chile, the CIA informs President Nixon that
the “armed forces, with the help of the national police, have
assumed control of Chile.” The PDB on Chile—it is the first item
in the briefing paper—reports that the members of the new military
junta “are all respected and experienced leaders” and that “the
new rulers have declared [the Chilean] Congress to be in recess.”
RELATED LINKS
The CIA and Chile: Anatomy of an Assassination
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‘Extreme Option: Overthrow Allende’
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“Allende Wins”
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Kissinger and Chile: The Declassified Record
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Nixon on Chile Intervention? White House Tape Acknowledges
Instructions to Block Salvador Allende
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U.S. Covert Intervention in Chile: Planning to Block Allende Began
Long before September 1970 Election
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Brazil Conspired with U.S. to Overthrow Allende
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Agustin Edwards: A Declassified Obituary
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Chile and the United States: Declassified Documents Relating to the
Military Coup, September 11, 1973
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New Kissinger 'Telecons' Reveal Chile Plotting at Highest Levels of
U.S. Government
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Chile: Secrets of State
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On 25th Anniversary of Chilean Coup, Documents Detail Abuses by
Chiliean Military, U.S. Role in Chile
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* Chile
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* Chilean coup
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* Richard Nixon
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* Augusto Pinochet
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* CIA
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