CHILE - VIRTUAL TRUTH COMMISSION

Virtual Truth Commission

The Pinochet Coup

Summary

On Sept. 11, 1973, amid the mounting chaos, Chile's military struck. In a classic coup d'etat, the army seized control of strategic sites throughout the country and cornered Allende in his presidential offices. He died in a fire-fight, apparently shooting himself in the head to avoid capture....Nixon officials were ecstatic over the coup. "Chile's coup d'etat was close to perfect," stated a "SitRep"-- situation report -- from the U.S. military group in Valparaiso. The report, written by Marine Lt. Col. Patrick Ryan, characterized Sept. 11, 1973, as Chile's "day of destiny" and "Our D-Day." Peter Kornbluh, "The Chile Coup - The U. S. Hand" , October 25, 1998.

Twenty-five years ago, tanks rumbled through the streets of Chile, terrified civilians were lined up before firing squads at the National Stadium, the elected president was dead. Yet, at Richard Nixon's White House, the events were a cause for celebration, a culmination of three years of covert operations, propaganda and economic sabotage. Peter Kornbluh, "The Chile Coup - The U. S. Hand" , October 25, 1998.

The violent overthrow of the democratically-elected Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende, by a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet, changed the course of the country that Chilean poet Pablo Neruda described as "a long petal of sea, wine and snow"; because of CIA covert intervention in Chile, and the repressive character of General Pinochet's rule, the coup became the most notorious military takeover in the annals of Latin American history. Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive, CHILE: DECLASSIFIED U.S. DOCUMENTS ON PINOCHET AND THE 1973 COUP

Persons Involved

Among those who particiapted in the assault on the residence of Salvador Allende was Miguel Krassnoff Marchenko (Containsurgencia Urbana, , U. S. Army School of the Americas, 1974): Krassnoff was later a member of the DINA, known by political prisoners held and tortured at Villa Grimaldi, Tres Alamos and Cuatro Alamos. Implicated in the death by torture of former Spanish diplomat Carmelo Soria in 1976. Took part in the assault on the residence of former president Salvador Allende who was deposed by the Army in Sept. 1973. Known for his violent treatment of prisoners. Michael Katz-LacabeMichael Katz-Lacabe, School of the Americas Watch, "Eleven SOA Grads Among Chilean Officers Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case."

General Augusto Lutz, one of the military officials who participated with Pinochet in the 1973 coup against the Allende government, was a 1966 graduate of the Comando y Estado Mayor course at the U. S. Army School of the Americas. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch

American Response to Coup

CIA records detailing clandestine operations after the coup remain highly classified. But the "40 Committee," chaired by Kissinger, immediately authorized the CIA to "assist the junta in gaining a more positive image, both at home and abroad," according to documents previously revealed by the Senate Intelligence Committee. As part of those efforts, the CIA helped the junta write a "white book" justifying the coup. The CIA financed advisors who helped the military prepare a new economic plan for the country. The CIA paid for military spokesmen to travel around the world to promote the new regime. And, the CIA used its own media assets to cast the junta in a positive light. The reality in Chile was far different, as the U.S. government knew. Only 19 days after the coup, a secret briefing paper prepared for Kissinger -- entitled "Chilean Executions" -- put the "total dead" from the coup at 1,500. The paper reported that the junta had summarily executed 320 individuals -- three times more than publicly acknowledged. Peter Kornbluh, "The Chile Coup - The U. S. Hand" , October 25, 1998.

Despite the carnage, U.S. officials described the scene with soaring rhetoric. "Now that they are in fact again a 'country in liberty' no obstacle is too high, no problem too difficult to solve," stated the Navy section of the U.S. military group in a situation report on Oct. 1, 1973. "Their progress may be slow, but it will be as free men aspiring to goals which are for the benefit of Chile." To help, Nixon opened the spigot of economic aid. Three weeks after the coup, the Nixon administration authorized $24 million in commodity credits to buy wheat -- credits that had been denied to Allende's government. The United States provided a second $24 million in commodity credits to Chile for feed corn, and planned to transfer two destroyers to the Chilean navy. The aid flowed, although Assistant Secretary of State Jack Kubisch reported to Kissinger that junta leader Pinochet had ruled out "any time table for turning Chile back to the civilians." Chile's record as South America's pre-eminent democracy was coming to an end. But even the CIA's best propaganda could not hide the reality on the ground. The coup's brutality was drawing worldwide condemnation and prompting worries at the White House. "Internationally, the Junta's repressive image continues to plague it," stated a Kissinger briefing paper on Nov. 16, 1973. Reports of mass arrests -- by then, U.S. intelligence put the number at 13,500 -- as well as summary executions, torture and "disappearances" were reaching the world press. Peter Kornbluh, "The Chile Coup - The U. S. Hand" , October 25, 1998.

October 1, 1973: Department of Defense, U.S. Milgroup, Situation Report #2: In a situation report, U.S. Naval attache Patrick Ryan, reports positively on events in Chile during the coup. He characterizes September 11 as "our D-Day," and states that "Chile's coup de etat [sic] was close to perfect." His report provides details on Chilean military operations during and after the coup, as well as glowing commentary on the character of the new regime. Source: Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive, CHILE: DECLASSIFIED U.S. DOCUMENTS ON PINOCHET AND THE 1973 COUP
November 16, 1973: Department of State, Chilean Executions: This memo, sent to the Secretary of State by Jack Kubisch, states that summary executions in the nineteen days following the coup totaled 320 -- more than three times the publicly acknowledged figure. At the same time, Kubisch reports on new economic assistance just authorized by the Nixon administration. The memo provides information about the Chilean military's justification for the continued executions. It also includes a situation report and human rights fact sheet on Chile. Source: Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive, CHILE: DECLASSIFIED U.S. DOCUMENTS ON PINOCHET AND THE 1973 COUP
February 11, 1974 Department of State, Kubisch-Huerta Meeting: Request for Specific Replies to Previous Questions on Horman and Teruggi Cases: This telegram, written by Ambassador Popper and directed to the U.S. Secretary of State, reports on a meeting between Assistant Secretary of State Jack Kubisch, and Chile's foreign minister General Huerta on the controversy over two U.S. citizens -- Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi -- executed by the military after the coup. Kubisch notes that he is raising this issue "in the context of the need to be careful to keep relatively small issues in our relationship from making our cooperation more difficult." Source: Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archive, CHILE: DECLASSIFIED U.S. DOCUMENTS ON PINOCHET AND THE 1973 COUP

Atrocities under Pinochet

Involvement of U. S. Army School of the Americas Among the 30 high-ranking officials of the Chilean dictatorship who named in a writ presented on March 13, 1998 by plaintiff lawyers Joan Garces and Manuel Murillo and presented to the Central Instruction Tribunal Number 6 of the Audencia Nacional in Spain, requesting that Judge Manuel Garcia Castellon immediately indict Augusto Pinochet and the other high-ranking officials of the Chilean dictatorship for the crimes of genocide, terrorism, torture, and illegal arrest followed by disappearance, were eleven military officers who are graduates of the U.S. Army School of the Americas.

Murders of the 1973 Coup

Rev. Juan Alsina, Spanish priest, age 29. Hospital chaplain. On Sept 17, 1973, an arm officer and five soldiers took him from the hispital. He was beaten, tortured and shot 10 times as he "tried to escape." Later, his broken and bullet-riddled body was found on a bridge in Santiago. The Spanish embassy claimed his body and returned it home for burial. "Alsina was one of many Spanish citizens and other foreigners, including Americans, and more than 15,000 Chileans who were summarily executed or "disappeared" by the military as part of the bloody coup and its aftermath led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Maurice Zeitlin,"End the silence: U.S. should bring Pinochet to justice",Baltimore Sun, November 9, 1998 (Maurice Zeitlin, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles, and a member of the advisory board of the Latin American Center, has lived in Chile and is the author of many articles and two books on that country, including "The Civil Wars in Chile" (Princeton University Press).
Charles Horman. U. S. citizen. On Sept 17, 1973 "went to the U.S. Embassy to request protection for his wife, Joyce, and himself. Embassy officials turned him away, saying they couldn't help him. That evening he was arrested by soldiers and taken to the National Stadium, where thousands of other prisoners rounded up by the military were concentrated. He subsequently "disappeared." On Oct. 5, his father, Edmund Horman, came to Chile, and, with Joyce, sought help from embassy officials. But as Frank Teruggi Sr. was also to experience months later, they were subject instead to evasions and indifference. They were forced to conduct their own investigation; and, on Oct. 18, were informed by the embassy that Chilean investigators had found Horman's body. He had been tortured and shot in the stadium, and buried in the wall of the National Cemetery." Maurice Zeitlin,"End the silence: U.S. should bring Pinochet to justice",Baltimore Sun, November 9, 1998 (Maurice Zeitlin, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles, and a member of the advisory board of the Latin American Center, has lived in Chile and is the author of many articles and two books on that country, including "The Civil Wars in Chile" (Princeton University Press).
"Frank Teruggi Jr., an economics student at the University of Chile, and his roommate, David Hathaway, were arrested on Sept. 20, 1973, and taken to National Stadium. Somehow the two were separated. Mr. Hathaway was later released, as the result of the intervention of a Chilean businessman, a family friend. Mr. Hathaway never saw his friend alive again. Frank Teruggi's body was found days later at the morgue in Santiago. He had been tortured and shot 17 times. These facts were disclosed and confirmed only in February 1974, as the result of an independent investigation in Chile by Teruggi's father, and a Chicago commission of inquiry.
Ronnie Moffit was killed in Washington in 1976 by a car bomb planted by a Chilean hit squad. She was a passenger in the car of their target, Orlando Letelier, a former minister in the government of Salvador Allende, who was also murdered. In this case, at least, a Justice Department investigation led to the imprisonment, in 1995, of Manuel Contreras, head of Chile's feared secret police, and his deputy." Maurice Zeitlin,"End the silence: U.S. should bring Pinochet to justice",Baltimore Sun, November 9, 1998 (Maurice Zeitlin, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles, and a member of the advisory board of the Latin American Center, has lived in Chile and is the author of many articles and two books on that country, including "The Civil Wars in Chile" (Princeton University Press).
Eight other Americans, including two Maryknoll priests and two graduate students at the University of Wisconsin were imprisoned, brutally beaten, or tortured. Over 15,000 Chileans were killed or disappeared. Maurice Zeitlin,"End the silence: U.S. should bring Pinochet to justice",Baltimore Sun, November 9, 1998 (Maurice Zeitlin, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles, and a member of the advisory board of the Latin American Center, has lived in Chile and is the author of many articles and two books on that country, including "The Civil Wars in Chile" (Princeton University Press).

1973, Caravan of Death, 1973

In 1973, General Sergio Arellano Stark toured northern cities in Chile. The tour resulted in dozens of summary executions. Second in command to General Arellano was 1LT Armando Fernandez Larios, a 1970 Combat Arms Orientation graduate of the U. S. Army School of the Americas. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch

1974-1977: Key Leadership in DINA
DINA stands for Direcci�n de lnteligencia Nacional and was Pinochet's personal secret police force that operated from 1974-1977. Graduates of the School of the Americas have comprised one out of every seven members of the command staff of DINA, the notorious Chilean intelligence agency responsible for many of the worst human rights atrocities during the Pinochet years. SOA grads who were members of the DINA command staff include: Luis Alberto Medina Aldea, Jorge Aro Peigneguy, Eugenio Videla, Rene Riveros, and Guillermo Salinas. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
LTC German Barraga, according to testimony by Luz Arce, was in charge of repression of the socialist party by the DINA in the 1970's. In 1986, Instructor, School of the Americas.
Carlos Parera Silva. Chile. 1969, trained in Irregular Warfare Operations at the School of the Americas. In the 1970s, according to testimony by Luz Arce, Silva was one of the key actors within the repressive forces of the DINA.

1974 Disappearance of four opposition soliders and subsequent cover-up of Illegal Burials

In 1974 four opposition soldiers were kidnapped and disappeared. In 1994, 1LT Miguel Krassnoff, a former member of the DINA secret police and 1974, Urban Counterinsurgency Course graduate, U. S. Army School of the Americas. failed to show up at a hearing regarding the disappearances. Also, on July 14, 1994, COL Alfredo Canales, a 1974 Chile. 1974, Basic Officer Orientation Course graduate of the School of the Americas, personally personally barred the exhumation of a body believed to have been illegally buried on Army premises, and believed to have been related to the disappearance of the four. Canales had earlier given his approval to the exhumation. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch

1974 Assassination of General Prats

General Carlos Prats Gonzalez was defense minister under the Salvador Allende regime. Prats and his wife were killed by a car bomb in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Several graduates of the U. S. Army School of the Americas were associated with this murder:
- 1 LT Armando Fernandez Larios, a 1970, Combat Arms Orientation graduate of the U. S. Army School of the Americas, was one of two DINA agents charged with the assassination.
- COL Jose Zara, a 1965 Basic Airborne gradaute and 1970 Basic Officer Orientation graduate, provided logistical support while working as undersecretary of the Foreign Relations department of the DINA, "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
  
  1974 Kidnapping and Disappearance In 1974 brothers Juan Carlos and Jorge Elias Andr�nico Antequera, were kidnapped and disappeared. LTC Fernando Lauriani Maturana, a 1971 Combat Arms Orientation Course graduate of the U. S. Army School of the Americas was implicated. Lauriani's was one of the few cases of military crimes to be tried after Pinochet's brutal dictatorship. Unfortunately, Pinochet brought all of his influence to bear and the case was finally handed to a military court, which, absolved Lauriani and closed the case. 1998, Laureani was among SOA graduate cited in the Spanish Human Rights Case. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
  
  1976: Murder of United Nations official Carmelo Sorio
  
  Carmelo Soria, a United Nations official and Spanish citizen, was arrested in 1976, then tortured by Chilean DINA personnel. His neck was then broken. Soria's car and body were dumped in a Santiago canal in order to make his death appear accidental.
  - Col. Jaime Lepe Orellana and Col. Pablo Belmar, 1968 Basic Arms Orientation Course graduates of the U. S. Army School of the Americas, were directly implicated.
  - MAJ Guillermo Humberto Salinas Torres, a 1974 graduate of the Curso de Armas Combinadas para Cadetes and Contrainsurgencia Urbana School of the Americas, was also linked to the assassination of Carmelo Soria. However, because of Pinochet's amnesty laws, the case was stayed.
  - In 1987, Belmar was invited to be a Guest Instructor at the School of the Americas.
  - In 1991 the case was reopened, at which time Lepe was General Pinochet's personal secretary...On Nov. 4, 1997, Lepe was rejected for promotion from Brigadier to General, the first time that such a rejection was made public. Chilean President Eduardo Frei reportedly rejected the promotion because of Lepe's bad image and concern that such a promotion would damage "harmonious relations" between Chilean citizens and the armed forces. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
  - In 1998, Salinas Torres was named among Chilean officers cited in the Spanish Human Rights Case against Pinochet. Michael Katz-LacabeMichael Katz-Lacabe, School of the Americas Watch, "Eleven SOA Grads Among Chilean Officers Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case."
    
    Assassination of Orlando Letelier, 1976
    
    In 1976, Orlando Letelier, Allende's foreign minister, was assassinated in Washington, D. C. with a car bomb. 1 LT Armando Fernandez Larios, a Chile. 1970, Combat Arms Orientation graduate of the U. S. Army School of the Americas, was indicted in 1979 by a for involvement in the Letelier assassination three years earlier. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
    
    Torture and Murder of Trade Unionists, 1982 In 1982 a transport worker in La Serena, Chile, was tortured and murdered. In December 1991, MAJ Carlos Herrera Jim�nez, a 1971, Combat Arms Orientation graduate of the U. S. Army School of the Americas, was sentenced for this crime. In 1982, trade unionist Tucapel Jim�nez was abducted and murdered, and MAJ Herrera was implicated. "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
    
    Exploitation of Political Prisoners Luz Arce, a political prisoner who was tortured by the DINA and later became a DINA collaborator, testified to the ways in which political prisoners were exploited by the DINA:
    - Eduardo Iturriaga Neumann, (1965 Basic Airborne Course graduate, School of the Americas), Head of DINA's international operations, and other DINA officers used political prisoners that had been tortured into collaboration as secretaries and analysts in their offices. Iturriaga was among Chilean officers cited in the 1998 Spanish Human Rights Case.
    - Odlanier Mena (1970 Comando y Estado Major graduate, School of the Americas], offered Arce her freedom in exchange for working three years as a spy for DINA.
    - Alejandro Burgos [1975, Basic Officer Orientation, School of the Americas] was involved in a plan to get left-wing political prisoners who had been tortured into collaborating with the DINA to meet with the U.S. Ambassador to show that they had changed their political convictions.
    "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
    
    Covem
    
    An action of the Investigations Police in Chile. Ernesto Baeza Michelsen, allegedly chose 50 members of his institution to take part in the action, in which 14 people were arrested. Of the 14, one, a journalism student, Eduardo Jara died as a consequence of the torture he received. Michael Katz-LacabeMichael Katz-Lacabe, School of the Americas Watch, "Eleven SOA Grads Among Chilean Officers Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case."
    
    Villa Grimaldi concentration camp
    
    Nearly 4500 prisoners were held at this concentration camp. Leadership of the Villa Grimaldi camp, also known by political prisoners as Tres Alamos and Cuatro Alamos, included a number of graduates of the U. S. Army School of the Americas, including
    - LTC Alfonso Faundez Norambuena, Chilean Officer Orientation, 1969
    - LTC Manuel Rolando Mosqueira Jarpa, Combat Arms Orientation, 1970.
    - COL Manual Provis Carrasco, Combat Arms Orientation, 1970
    - COL Marco Antonio Saez Saavedra, Combat Arms Orientation, 1970
    - Miguel Krassnoff Marchenko, Containsurgencia Urbana, 1974; known for violent treatment of prisoners. (Cited in Spanish Human Rights Case, 1998)
    "Notorious Chilean School of the Americas Graduates", Vicky Imerman and Heather Dean, researchers, School of the Americas Watch
    
    Proceed to Chile 4: U. S. and Chile,1973 - 1998
    
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    Updated December 12, 1998