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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Tue Sep 20, 2016, 06:12 PM Sep 2016

The Letelier Assassination and the Dynamics of US Impunity

The Letelier Assassination and the Dynamics of US Impunity
By: Ramona Wadi

Published 20 September 2016 (3 hours 54 minutes ago)

. . .

This year marks the 40th anniversary since the assassination of Chilean socialist diplomat Orlando Letelier and his co-worker Ronni Moffitt in a crime that hosts a multitude of narratives ensconced within two countries – Chile and the United States.

Years later, as declassified documents became available, it was clear that each major terror attack directly ordered by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was a prompt for the U.S. to revise possible scenarios which, in turn, would provide impunity where necessary.

However, Letelier’s assassination is a culmination of the multi-faceted nature of the U.S. backing of dictatorships in South America and the ensuing results. From torture and extermination centers, to the neoliberal model promoted by Henry Kissinger’s Chicago Boys, the U.S.’s collaborative role cannot be obliterated, whether through an analysis of supporting dictatorships against a so-called communist threat or through direct participation by individuals working for both countries – in this case, former CIA and DINA agent Michael Townley who was responsible for the car bombing that killed Letelier.

Writing in the Washington Post, Peter Kornblugh states that 2015 provided a turning point in Chilean history and memory when the White House approved a request by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to transfer classified documents related to Letelier’s assassination, among them a memorandum detailing the CIA’s conclusion that Pinochet had ordered the terror attack on U.S. soil.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/The-Letelier-Assassination-and-the-Dynamics-of-US-Impunity-20160920-0014.html

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