Editing Conspiracy BBS Archive/cia info (section)

===CHILE:  ACTIVITIES AGAINST ALLENDE===


A good example of the CIA's use of the type of political
action mentioned above is the Agency's involvement in the
internal political affairs of Chile beginning in 1963 and
reaching a climax in 1973.  In 1964, the United States became
involved in a covert assistance program to Eduardo Frei in
his campaign for the presidency of Chile.  Frei was running
against Salvador Allende, a candidate disliked by U.S.
leaders for his leftist leanings.  The CIA had judged
previously that Frei would come to power regardless, with a
plurality of the vote, and the assistance given by it to Frei
was supposedly to help strengthen the Democratic process in
Chile.  Although Frei won the election, the United States
continued to meddle in the internal affairs of Chile for
another nine years.
     
The largest covert operation in Chile from 1963-1973 was
propaganda.  The CIA station in Santiago placed materials in
the Chilean media, maintained a number of assets or agents on
major Chilean newspapers, radio, and television stations, and
manufactured and disseminated "black" propaganda.  Examples
of CIA activities ranged from support of the establishment of
a commercial television service in Chile to the placement of
anti-Soviet propaganda on eight radio news stations and in
five provincial newspapers.  The most significant
contribution in this area of covert activity was the money
provided to El Mercurio, the major Santiago daily newspaper
during the Allende regime.  The CIA spent over $12 million on
the Chilean operation.
     
Another category of CIA involvement in Chile was that of
political action.  The most impressive of these actions
undertaken was the massive effort made from 1963 to 1974 to
influence elections.  The CIA spent over $3 million in
election programs alone.  In addition to attempting to
influence elections, the Agency combatted the principle
Communist-dominated labor union in Chile and wrested control
of Chilean university student organizations from the
Communists.
     
As was discussed earlier, the United States never liked
Salvador Allende, and in 1970, the CIA began covert political
operations against the government of Allende under express
orders from President Richard Nixon and his National Security
Assistant, Dr. Henry Kissinger.  Both the CIA and the State
Department were apparently reluctant to become involved in
what appeared to be an infeasible program to keep President
Salvador Allende out of office, even though he had won by
plurality in the September, 1970 election.
     
Nevertheless, the President and Mr. Kissinger directed
the CIA, much against its officers' better judgments, to
stage a coup in Chile.  The project never developed into
anything substantial.  However, the CIA provided large sums
of money (around $8 million) to support parliamentary
opposition to Allende and to keep alive an opposition press. 
For all its efforts, the CIA was unsuccessful in defeating
Allende although on September 11, 1973, he was overthrown in
a coup which, though not under U.S. control, may well have
been caused by U.S. anti-Allende pressures.