CNA 33 Lecture Robrage Power (PDF)

Robarge,  D.  2008.  Review  of  Hos$le  intent:  US  
cover1  opera$ons  in  Chile,  1964–1974  by  K.  
Gustafson.  Studies  in  Intelligence  52  (3):  29-­‐33.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [1/18]

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [2/18]

More  has  been  wriCen  about  US  intervenFon  
in  Chile  during  the  Allende  era  than  US  
intervenFon  anywhere  else.  One  author  
compares  its  importance  to  that  of  Vietnam,  
another  conflict  that  many  US  ciFzens  
opposed.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Chile’s  road  to  
socialism  was  mostly  non-­‐violent,  quite  the  
opposite  of  the  military  coup  that  followed.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [3/18]

The  issue  received  aCenFon  at  the  Fme  due  to  
the  interest  of  human  rights  acFvists,  leVist  
scholars  and  intellectuals,  and  anF-­‐secrecy  
advocates  in  the  1970s  who  were  increasingly  
criFcal  of  their  government’s  Cold  War  policies.  
Such  individuals  devoted  much  Fme  and  effort  
to  document  the  police-­‐state  tacFcs  of  the  
Pinochet  regime  and  seek  compensaFon  for  
vicFms  of  the  17-­‐year  dictatorship.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [4/18]

In  1973  a  Senate  subcommiCee  invesFgated  
contact  between  the  CIA  and  ITT,  one  of  the  
largest  companies  targeted  for  naFonalizaFon.  
That  was  the  first  incident  of  a  report  criFcal  of  
US  intervenFon,  and  it  was  followed  two  years  
later  by  another  that  was  equally  criFcal.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [5/18]

The  Reagan  administraFon  adopted  a  passive  
even  forgiving  a^tude  toward  the  regime,  
which  in  turn  caused  opponents  to  increase  
their  demands  for  holding  the  CIA  into  
account.  The  Clinton  administraFon  
declassified  over  20,000  documents  from  the  
CIA  and  other  branches  of  the  US  government.  
Then  in  2000,  the  CIA  issued  a  report  admi^ng  
that  it  had  supported  the  coup  but  not  
Pinochet’s  assumpFon  of  the  presidency  or  his  
human  rights  abuses.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [6/18]

The  issue  was  kept  alive  by  the  Chilean  
government’s  desire  to  extradite  Pinochet  from  
Europe  and  put  him  on  trial,  an  effort  which  
gained  momentum  when  his  mulF-­‐million-­‐
dollar  bank  accounts  in  the  US  were  
discovered.  Meanwhile  Chileans  filed  huge  
lawsuits  against  Secretary  of  State  Henry  
Kissinger  and  the  US  government,  demanding  
compensaFon  for  deaths  and  human  rights  
abuses.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [7/18]

There  are  few  objecFve  accounts  of  the  era.  
Gustafson’s  book  is  one  the  most  noteworthy.  
He  stresses  that  the  US  did  not  reflexively  
support  the  right  in  Chile,  as  it  did  elsewhere,  
but  rather  funding  a  broad  range  of  centrists.  
Despite  statements  that  Chile  was  an  essenFal  
part  of  US  policy,  the  CIA  and  State  
Department  were  not  closely  monitored  by  the  
White  House,  and  their  policies  were  not  
consistent.  That  is  they  oVen  supported  
different  Chileans  for  different  reasons.    

Cultura Norteamerica, Dr. Jason Kendall Moore, Universidad de Playa Ancha, Campus San Felipe, Primer Semestre 2015
Unit 3: US covert operations in Chile [8/18]