PInócbet feared tbe fcJrJMtIoD of " On Sept. 21, 1876, Orlando Leiteller, the unIted CIIrIstInn Demoern~ oppooitIoD ftont that would represent HE NAME in the former Chilean ambassador, was up to 80 peru!Ilt" of the popuIation. Tbf;. outdated United States 8.S888Sinated when a bomb blew up his cm: exIles In Europe Included many of tbe passport Is false, but the partIes' top Ieaders, wbo ,.,.;re put"I!lJIn[ in Washington. EarIy tbis Muy, the ihe Idea o(an allIance. f8Oeil. stamps tell a story. In Ro­ American-horn mastermind of the Townltiy sIdd. u."t be and VirgIlio PlI1 me, there Is a special telephone killing, of tbe CNM -m to Rome in number ,to contact a terrorlst an &gent of Chile's secret pollee, was September 19'/5 to cernent DINA', whose nickname Is "Topoglgio." sentenced for the crime. In this article, reliltlonsblp wI1b tbe Youtb Front Other .pieces of t.he puzzle come (FronI1 della Gtovenlll), tbe militant rivalingthedrama of a fictional cloak.­ youtb arm of tbe Fucist Itallan SocIal from hotel, telephone and Olght tIovement (1181), and ealIst theIr lIelp records from a dozen cities. and-dagger tale, eJohn Dinges gives the In lIBII.'l8BInaUD !he ezIled eIder inside' story of the dark career 01 Michael stlltesman of tbe amstIan Democrst:lc The evldence surfaced in t.he in­ Party, BenJardo LelPIon. 'lbe vestigation of the 1976 car-bomb as­ Townley, the ft},lond American" reIatlonsblp ~ DIÑA and MSfs sassination of former ChIlean Am­ undercover operative known on three Youtb Front appears to lmIe been bassador Orlando Letelier in Wash­ vlrtualIy a carbon copy of tbe DINA­ continents and involved in intrigues in CNM link:, above-boanI propaganda ington. exdJange and ideoIogIc8l support ItaáYÓeArgentin~, Mexic~ ~~, Frlm~" comblned wI1b claadestlne terrorlst 'lbe clues Iead lar beyond Letelier's openi.ttons. death lo other murders, otber citie. and an ._ ~ rmany. tbe exlstence of an lUlIlSIISSinatlon \DI­ Townley's contact was a man be derground OD tbree contin~ts sponsor­ knew as Alfredo di Stefano, wbo went ed by Chlle's mllitary ruJers. Presidl'IIt Salvador Allende bad been er's sea!, a bomb exploded. Prats ed by tbe nIcknames "TopogIgIo' and Most of !he information is now in !he overthrown In a rigbt-wIng mllitary bis wIfe both were kllled In a blast so "George." Town1ey and Paz are bands of the Justlce Department, but lt powerful it bIew parIs of the car nIne beIIeved to bave worked out wWl di MICHA&. TOWNUY coup that was one 01 the bloodiest in OIdANDO LETEUER. rema1ns under \\TapA. TiIe reason: Se­ Latin American bIstory. Townley, !he stortes Idg/I ODIo an apartment balcony. St.efano a tbree-way mlltlru aId cret agreements with the Chllean, go~ But there was mucb more that waS son of a wealthy Ford Motor Co. Argentine investIgators theorized In a marl<: a Fanon-Courier "beeper" sys­ ammgement lnvolvIng DINA, CNM vemment by u.s. officials negotiatlng not beard al !he trIal. executive In CbUe, bad jolned a rlgbtlot still-secret report that :J. clock ij.mIng tem, wbIcb be modlfIed e1ectrically to and di stefano's youth group. for !he extrad1tion of Michael TownIey, As a result of !he Leteller case Inve&­ group engaged In terrorlsm against devlee was used to detonate tbe bombo serve as a remote-control detonator. Le!pton was a c:o-founder of !he !he key wltness In !he I..etelier mumer tigatIon. abundant bard evldence has Alleride. He was implicated In a Townley's 'Enyart passport sbows DINA onIered TownIey lo dIsrupt a CIdlean CbrIstIan Democratlc Party triaL fn this agreemen~ U.s. off1<1als emerged that confIn!Is Involvement of bomicide and forced to flee thCarlos Prats and bis wlfe lo It was not dlfficult f.O persuade DmA After the Prats mIssion, Townley war. fascIsm. Lelgbton was consIdered by At a trIal endIng In Februa­ Argentina in September 1974. A year from a Chllean concentratlon camPo five-week cbief Contreras that Townley would be sent to Miami. He plugged blmself Into DlNA's ualysts to be a dangeroDs ry, a Washington jury convicted two later, lormer VICe Pre&ldent Beniardo useful to do dirty work abroad Townley was also al !he meeting. "cataIyat" wbo couId force a precedent­ Miami's antl-Castro Cuban terrorlst un­ For reasons nnt yet explained, Town­ CUban exiles accused of ~ iS""Iilt Leigbton, a leader of centrist opposItion was bired In mId-l974. derground, wbich beId Pinocbet and DI­ settIng alliance agaInst tbe rlgbt that Iñeñ" ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡;r' contract ~X; ChI, ley arrlved late for lile exIle meeting to mllitary rule, aD!1 bis de were NA In great esteem becaU.1 of tbelr could spre~.d to otber countries. , Ie's nntorioUS secret ponce, fu kíII ¡;¡n¡;¡: crll1caBy wounded by a gunman's and did nnt carry out tbe assasslnatton DI Stefano agreed to carry out tbe successful war against !he lefl Town­ plana. But tbe relatiooshlp lietween DI­ ter, a Ieader of Chllean exile resistanee buliets In Rorne. ,N SEPT,,, 1974, Townley was ley let It be known that DINA was seek· three-way operatlon. Tbe tarJ¡et was a to !he mWtary govenunent. , The evidenee traces tbe Incomplete ., NA and CNM contlnued. , < given a Cbi1ean Identlty can! In(¡ a suitable group to belp on a special Cldlean, the assassIns wera If8IIan and StiIl pending lB a U.s. request tl!at bol unmIstakable outlineof a three­ , _ witb bis offictal DINA aüas, - In 'a twIst - !he Cuban l!lÜle Manuel miss1on. Cbile extradite Gen. Contreras, continent netwoIk of vIoIent anti­ " V, Juan Andres WiIson Silva, .M' EANlI'HILE, DINA's focus movement wouId take cred1t for tbe bead of DINA at !he time of !he Sep­ O lo February 1975, contact was made , " "wldened lo EIJ1'O!I'l, wbere operation In order to take !he beal off communlsts receivlng ~ tecbn1clan. He was ordered to ~ntl­ wlth !he leadet· of !he Cuban Nationallst • most CbIlean exlles llved. tember 1876 munler, and two DlNAof­ tralnIng from Chlle In for na to arrange tbe assasslnatloil ~ 01' t6e It.illaris. . ficers accused of ammgIng tbe assassI- tbetr p:u1:IcIpatIon In DINA's n Movement, asmall but mIIitant IIJ'OIII' ~ , Townley was sent to estab­ natinn. ' wI1b groups in ArgentIna, tbe Unlted OD tbe rigIrtIst fringe oi !he exile mow,.. Iisb oc renew contacts wlth anti-com· Townley flew lo tbe UnIted States. 00 :;r~~::m,,: ~:OO~-cJ:l~ munlst groups tbere. TOO Plnocbet go­ Oct.&, 3-' ~ =1 bis wlfe stepped States, Sp:lin, France, Germany ,!ud tbe Chllean armed forces, Prals was ment. A meeting was arranged In Neo",' Jersey Guillenno Novo otIIer!1 vcmmcnt Was becomlng conccrncd out of a taxIcab a few bIock3 from tbe T mE CENTER of !he DI­ ItaIY. Townley Biso has admiUed considered !he most da!lgerous rival to ."itb and carryIng out DINA mIssIons in Holland, of !he CNM "Nortbern Zone." Tben aOOut a new threat: The Christian De­ Vat:Ican, they were sbot clown from NA network is Micbael V, Gen. Augusto Pinocbet, who bad expell­ nlOlTatic Party, orlglnally acqulescent bebInd by a Jone gunman. 80th were Townley, assassin, contract BelgIum, Austria and LuxeD:\bourg. ed him sbortIy alter !he military la­ TownIey returned to M1ami to huy th.~ Independent of TowDley, other parto equlpment to buIId tbe assassInatlon da­ to the coup agalnst the Ieftlsts, was agent and iJltematlonal HaI­ keover Pinocbet besdecl. Sea MASTEBMlNDING,I'8ge 4ft A of tbe ne1woi'k are Imown lo Involve' vice that was to become JW¡ trwIe- movlng Into opposition. son for !he agency. Amerlcan-bom, be Stamps In !he Enyart passport, sIlow spled and killed for DINA. He told police and paramilit.ary operations In Townley Oying from Santiago on Sept. American Investlgators bow, under DI­ severa! Latin American countrles 10 to Buenos AIres, .... bere Prals and bis NA orders, be ammged Letel1er's 8&­ backed up by sopbistlcated computers wife were li"ing In exlle. Accordlng lo sasslnation with a remote-control bomb based In Santiago. Investlgatlve source." TowDley ma.1e bull!, by bim and set off by Cuban exiles. On Oel 4, 1973, Michael Townley contact wllb Iow-leveI members of Ar­ became Kemwth W. Enyart, Townley was !he chief prosecution gen,ttna's terrorlst commun1ty, a gi"oup wItness at !he trlal of!he two Cuban ex­ constructiOll worker. UsiDg a forged of ct\'llian mercenarles atlacbed to a patr!ates on ebarges of m~ and Florida driver's ücense and bIrth brancb of tbe Army 10telligence Serví• cmlSpiracy and of a thIrd accused of certlficate, be applled for a U.S. ee(SIDE). coverIng up the crime. TowDley matter­ passport In a HIalIi8b, Fla., courthouse, '!be ni8Irt óf Sept. lO, Gen. Prdt. of-factly described !he gruesome de­ listIng South America as bis and bis WIfe drove bome áfter· mid­ talIs of th.. bomblng that killed Leteller destlnatlon. nigbl Prats stopped in tbe driveway and an American woman, Ronnt Mof­ Less !han a montb before, In CbIIe" and I!'lt out to opeo !he garage door. A fitt. wbo was rlding wlth bim. tbe elected Socialist govemment of moment alter he returned to the driv- rmln.' g the Chilean assassination Cen(;bmed from Pg. 3D 10 the press lo bolster tbeir. claím f.o ha­ near the Chilean Embassy where he interspersec1 W1tll heavy diplomatic onJ.y about crimes iDvolving American Judge Parker finaDy sentenced ve comqrttted the crime. The informa­ had once lived. arm-twisting by U.S. officials. On April citizens or that werecommítted on U.S. Michael Town1ey OD May 10 to a criticallywounded but surviv.ed. Ana 7, a secret agreement was Signed in teqitory. . , maximum of le years L"I prison. Lelghton, sIlot in !he spine, remains tion was relayed through DINA .. Sign-in records show that Townley was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at the ti­ Washington by Chilean Unaer Novo and Ross were picked up near Pinochet conful.ues 10 insist that bis partially paralyzed. Lelghton recovered Secretary of IntE>rior Enrique Montero Miamí as they were preparing lo fiee government had nothing to do with fuI1y from head wound, but withdrew BAT WAS to be the last me, buying electronic equipment. a and U .S. Attorney Earl Silbert. the United States with falsa passports. Letelier's death or other human righ~ from acti\'e politics. act ol the collaboration But Contreras' reliance on his net­ betweeÍl DINA and the work backfired. The Paraguayan pas­ paz and Suarez are still at'large. vioiations. Miami's Spanish-language newspa~ To obtain the expulsion ol Townley, The Chilean Supreme Court is er, Diario de las Amerieas, received a CNM took shape in mid- sport&, though never usad, provided in- tbe United · States promised that 1976, when Cuba's rulers planned the as- vestigators with pictures ol Townley expected 10 follow a preliminary cornmunique postmarked Oct. 10 in ''infonnation (obtained through thE) 'recommendation denying extradition of wbich a Cuban exile group identifíed as sassination of Orlando Letelier. The job and an~er DINA agent involved in the Letelier investigation) . . . will be HROUGBOUT the tria! in January and February tllis Contreras and other offiéers on grounds Zero,one of the pseudonyrns lor the was given to Townley, a natural choice operati~. conveyed only to the government of that Townley's testimony was obtained CNM, claimed. credit for shooting for an operation in Wasbington beeause Secunty was poor inside the Cuban Chile," and that the. information may year, prosecutors fougbt off of bis American citizenship and strong exile cornmunity,.and witllin weeks the defensa · attomeys' efforts 10 in exchange for a promise and is tbus Leighton. No detaüs to verify the claim only be usad by the United States "10 inadmissible. were given, but on Nov. 4, another Zera ties to cooperative CNM members liv- CNM role in th~ mur~er had ·been es­ prosecute violations of law in the force Townley· lo face cross­ ing in New Jersey a few hours' drive tabllshed. U.S. mvestigators bagan 10 examination on other assassination The case is lar from over lor cornmunique was received by The As­ United states." TIle pact thÍlS Townley. In a letter 10 bis wife ayear sociated Press. The message said from Washington.' follow the trai1 of the "blond Chilean- prohibited the United States from missions forDINA U.S. District Judge Paragwcyan intelligence, whicb had American" said to.be DINA's.~ to Barrington Parker commented at one ago - a copy of which was obtaliled - Lelghton was shot in !he back of the passing 00 to, say, Argentina, Germany Townley told 01 bis fears: the counterinsurgency the CNM.. The trai1 led to Chile m Fe­ poirit 10 Prosecutor Eugene Propper head, not in the forebead as reported in rec::r!t~ined , Ol:" Italy, information uncovered abaut "With what has started in the press, the press, and that the weapon used org n crP-ated by Contreras to bruary 1978 wben for the first tline the Chllean terrorist acts within their that "it sounds as tbough you are coordinate the secret poliee operations picture and de~ription of the suspect representing Mr. Townley:" But PBrter screaming about Argentina. Italy, etc., was a 9-mm. Baretta pistoL Itallan poli­ borders. and what is going to come out about ee confmned that the detai1s were cor­ of the military governments in Soutb werema~l!ed Wltb Townley. Townley was· put on a plane in held to tbe guidelines ol !he U .S. pact America's southem zone, agreed to pro- The United states, bent on soJvmg with Chile and declared off-limits all Mexico, the rest 01 too world il;. going to rect and could only have been obtained handcuffs on April S, seated next to two be screaming for you and me lor many by someone with fír&thand knowledge vide falsa officlal passports far DINA's Letelier's murder, demanded Townley's FBI agents. ' questions probing into other DINA unspecified mission in Washington. ext.radítion. · Chile, caught in one operations and crinies. years to come. It won't make any oí the assacsination. On April17, Townley signed a pIea­ differencp. that they also· scream for The confusing mess&ges were part of Townley persuaded CNM members murder, negotiated 10 protect the rest bargaining ment with Silbert. Four oftbe níne men indicted in connection with too Letelier murders Contreras and !he Chilean government, !he "test" of the trilateral pact agreed ~umermo ~'~0cit\rvin ~ .~~ ..!?to- of DINA's terror network and prevent TOWDley WO~lead guilty 10 one they will be screaming lirst of all for us upon in Rome. Townley& Itallan con­ ñ1Sio 'S'uarez an. ~-p¡z To ilSSiSt the other assassinations from being count of consplracy to murder a fQt:"t'.ign are in prison. Novo and Ross· were tacta who arranged the shooting attack 1iiiñm fJfu assassmaD:ÁíT:'3Ira.riCoo' Jinked to the Pinochet government. offtcial and be sentenced lo three and a given lile &eilteñéés:lgiiliCiO-"NOvó, " Guillermo's brother, was given five passed details of the wound and the ~ Sept. 21. 1976, a bomb exploded in Lete!- Two weeks' tense negotiations in third 10 10 years in prisOn. Townley ~Ight lel 1.979 by Tila Nat:"". PrinNd by ló .the CNM, wbich gave tbem bcIatedly ier's car as he rotinded Sheridan Circle WashiDgton and Santiago were . couIcf be required 10 gl.ve information years for lying 10 a granel jury. ,,","-'lib••