Volume E-16: Documents on Chile, 1969

383-247/428-S/80026 FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 1969–1976 VOLUME E–16 DOCUMENTS ON CHILE, 1969–1973 DEPARTMENT OF STATE Washington 383-247/428-S/80026 Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976 Volume E–16 Documents on Chile, 1969–1973 Editor James McElveen James Siekmeier General Editor Adam M. Howard United States Government Publishing Office Washington 2015 383-247/428-S/80026 DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Historian Bureau of Public Affairs 383-247/428-S/80026 Preface The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the United States Government. The Historian of the Department of State is charged with the responsibility for the preparation of the Foreign Relations series. The staff of the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, under the direction of the General Editor of the Foreign Relations series, plans, researches, com- piles, and edits the volumes in the series. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg first promulgated official regulations codifying specific standards for the selection and editing of documents for the series on March 26, 1925. These regulations, with minor modifications, guided the series through 1991. Public Law 102–138, the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, established a new statutory charter for the preparation of the series which was signed by President George H.W. Bush on October 28, 1991. Sec- tion 198 of P.L. 102–138 added a new Title IV to the Department of State’s Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 USC 4351, et seq.). The statute requires that the Foreign Relations series be a thorough, accurate, and reliable record of major United States foreign policy decisions and significant United States diplomatic activity. The volumes of the series should include all records needed to provide comprehensive documentation of major foreign policy decisions and actions of the United States Government. The statute also confirms the editing principles established by Secretary Kellogg: the Foreign Relations series is guided by the principles of historical objectivity and accuracy; records should not be altered or deletions made without indicating in the published text that a deletion has been made; the published record should omit no facts that were of major importance in reaching a decision; and nothing should be omitted for the purposes of concealing a defect in policy. The statute also requires that the Foreign Relations series be published not more than 30 years after the events recorded. The editors are convinced that this volume meets all regulatory, statutory, and schol- arly standards of selection and editing. Structure and Scope of the Foreign Relations Series This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Rela- tions series that documents the most important issues in the foreign policy of Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. The subseries presents in multiple volumes a comprehensive documentary III 383-247/428-S/80026 IV Preface record of major foreign policy decisions and actions of both administrations. This volume documents U.S. policy toward Chile from January 20, 1969 to September 24, 1973, when the Nixon administration an- nounced its extension of diplomatic recognition to the military junta under General Augusto Pinochet. This volume is an online-only supplement to Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXI, Chile, 1969–1973, and should be read in con- junction with that volume as well as others in the series. In addition to the printed volume, the reader should consult Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E–10, Documents on American Republics, 1969– 1972, and Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E–11, Part 2, Documents on South America, 1973–1976, for further documentation on the role Chile played in the Nixon administration’s overall policy in Latin America. Focus of Research and Principles of Selection for Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E–16 The primary focus of this volume is on the attitudes adopted and actions taken by the U.S. Government toward the installation of two successive Chilean presidents: the election and inauguration of Sal- vador Allende in September 1970 and the military coup d’e´tat of Gen- eral Augusto Pinochet in September 1973. This volume differs from most volumes in the Foreign Relations series, however, in two important ways. First, many of the documents herein have been thoroughly ex- amined, summarized, and declassified in several other public projects, in particular: the reports released in the mid-1970s by the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelli- gence Activities (the Church Committee); and the documents released in the late-1990s by the Chile Declassification Project (the Pinochet Proj- ect). The editors of this volume, while acknowledging what has been released before, have tried to meet the series’ standard of thorough- ness, accuracy, and reliability not only by adding to the historical record but also by presenting a complete documentary account, regard- less of previous declassification. Second, recognizing both the importance of the subject and the nature of the documentation, the editors also compiled this extensive electronic supplement to go along with the printed volume (Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXI, Chile, 1969–1973). This supplement includes a selection of Presidential tape recordings, as transcribed by the editors, which adds context and detail to formal records on President Nixon’s posture toward President Al- lende; and several documents on human rights in the aftermath of the Pinochet coup d’e´tat, in particular, the disappearance and death of two U.S. citizens, Charles Horman and Frank Teruggi. In the latter instance, although Horman and Teruggi both died before September 24, the in- vestigation into the circumstances surrounding these two tragic 383-247/428-S/80026 Preface V cases—and the resulting public controversy—continued long after- wards. Additional documentation, therefore, is scheduled for publication in the subsequent compilation on Chile in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E–11, Part 2, Documents on South America, 1973–1976. Although organized into five chapters, this volume is perhaps best surveyed in terms of three periods in Allende’s political career: before his election on September 4, 1970; between his election and inauguration on November 4, 1970; and after his inauguration until his over- throw and death on September 11, 1973. The first period also corre- sponds to the final two years of the administration of President Eduardo Frei, which, in terms of U.S. policy, continued largely along lines established during his first four years in office. Frei, for instance, received substantial political and economic support, including covert assistance during the 1964 election from the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Since the deliberations on whether to provide similar assistance to any of the major candidates in the 1970 election were heavily influenced by the decision-making process six years earlier, as well as by political developments in the intervening years, readers should consult the compilation on Chile in Foreign Relations, 1964–1968, Volume XXXI, South and Central America; Mexico. Allende’s narrow victory in the 1970 election represented a decisive break in this conti- nuity, a break that is clearly represented in the pace of documentation, as the Nixon administration sought to block Allende’s confirmation and inauguration. The second period, covering these intervening two months, documents day-to-day decisions in a series of meetings, memoranda, and backchannel messages on attempting to block Allende’s confirmation, either by constitutional means or by military coup d’e´tat, respectively. The third period, which picks up the story after Allende’s inauguration, demonstrates how the Nixon administration adopted and implemented its “cool and correct” policy to destabilize the Chil- ean Government while simultaneously strengthening ties with the Chilean military. This policy was largely determined less through covert operations and more through the formal interagency process on economic affairs, including discouraging favorable terms in interna- tional lending and foreign assistance to Chile, while encouraging a favorable settlement in the nationalization of copper and other Chilean industries, previously dominated by U.S. multinational corporations. The volume concludes with the events of September 1973: the coup d’e´tat under General Pinochet, Allende’s suicide, and U.S. diplomatic recognition of the military junta. Editorial Methodology The documents are presented chronologically according to Wash- ington time. Memoranda of conversation are placed according to the 383-247/428-S/80026 VI Preface time and date of the conversation, rather than the date the memoran- dum was drafted. Editorial treatment of the documents published in the Foreign Rela- tions series follows Office style guidelines, supplemented by guidance from the General Editor and the chief technical editor. The documents are reproduced as exactly as possible, including marginalia or other no- tations, which are described in the footnotes. Texts are transcribed and printed according to accepted conventions for the publication of historical documents within the limitations of modern typography. A heading has been supplied by the editors for each document included in the volume. Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are retained as found in the original text, except that obvious typographical errors are silently corrected. Other mistakes and omissions in the documents are corrected by bracketed insertions: a correction is set in italic type; an addition in roman type. Words repeated in telegrams to avoid garbling or provide emphasis are silently corrected. Words or phrases under- lined in the source text are printed in italics. Abbreviations and contrac- tions are preserved as found in the original text, and a list of abbreviations is included in the front matter of each volume.

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