In the last few hours, the United States declassified extracts from two reports linked to the coup in Chile that confirm that the White House knew in advance of the military plans to overthrow then-President Salvador Allende in 1973.
On September 11, the 50th anniversary of the event, the State Department published part of the daily reports received by former President Richard Nixon (1969-1974), which were prepared by the intelligence services of that time to inform him about the situation in Chile.
In the first of the documents, dated September 8, 1973, Nixon’s advisers warned of a “possible coup attempt” against Allende, while in the second, dated September 11, they reported that several ” key military units” supported the overthrow.
Likewise, the documents highlight that, according to Nixon’s advisers, Allende considered that his followers did not have enough weapons to face the Army, and that the only viable solution was politics, the Europa Press news agency reported.
The socialist president “is concerned about the pressures from the opposition and, especially, about the intentions of the Army,” the document highlighted.
Although the intelligence services of the United States warned on the day of the coup of support from “key sectors of the Army”, they indicated that the military might not have “an effective and coordinated plan to take advantage of the widespread civil opposition” to the Chilean government.
“President Allende, for his part, still has hopes that postponing a decision will avoid conflict,” the file concluded.
That same September 11, the Chilean Armed Forces, under the command of Augusto Pinochet, bombed the seat of government, the La Moneda palace, and overthrew Allende.
This started a dictatorship that lasted 17 years and left more than 3,000 dead or missing.
“50 years after the military coup, the declassification of the files of this documentation promotes the search for truth and reinforces the commitment of our countries to democratic values, because democracy is memory and it is also the future,” said the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of Chile. , Gloria de la Fuente, in statements reproduced by the local media BioBio.
“A few weeks after the commemoration of the breakdown of democracy in Chile, we especially thank the Administration of President (Joe) Biden for its willingness to accept the petition to declassify files related to our country,” added the official.
On the 9th of this month, the Chilean Chamber of Deputies approved a request to President Gabriel Boric to instruct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take steps to access the secret history of the United States on its intervention before and during the coup d’état.
The requirement, promoted by parliamentarians from the Social Convergence (government party), was approved with a large majority, with 125 votes in favor, two against, and seven abstentions.
Source: Ambito
