Reply #2: Chile, 1973?

[Peace Patriot]

Unfortunately, CIA activity is secret, and we don't find out until decades later what they were doing to exacerbate divisions, destabilize the country and overthrow a good government, often by recruiting local people with various methods to do their dirty work. We do have documentation of the Bush Junta's gross interference in Bolivia in 2008, with a white separatist insurrection being funded/organized right out of the U.S. Embassy. We know that the DEA was involved, and that Peace Corps volunteers were used as spies, but we don't know what role the CIA played under cover of secrecy to stir up the white separatists in eastern Bolivia, who wanted to secede from Bolivia and take Bolivia's main resource, its gas reserves with them. We also know that racism against the Indigenous is virulent in that region and was used as a divisive tool.

Of course, not every protest is CIA instigated, but you have to look out for it, and maintain a suspicious attitude, because they've done these things so often, and to such horrendous effect, in Latin America.

Here's an account of what the Nixon administration, "organized money" (as FDR put it) and the CIA did to Chile in 1973. It is the type-case of gross U.S. meddling:

---

The nationalization of U.S. and other foreign-owned companies led to increased tensions with the United States. As a result, the Richard Nixon administration organized and inserted secret operatives in Chile, in order to quickly destabilize Allende's government.<21><26><27><28><29> In addition, Nixon gave instructions to make the Chilean economy scream,<23> and international financial pressure restricted economic credit to Chile. Simultaneously, the CIA funded opposition media, politicians, and organizations, helping to accelerate a campaign of domestic destabilization.<30> By 1972, the economic progress of Allende's first year had been reversed, and the economy was in crisis. Political polarization increased, and large mobilizations of both pro- and anti-government groups became frequent, often leading to clashes.

By 1973, Chilean society had grown highly polarized, between strong opponents and equally strong supporters of Salvador Allende and his government. Military actions and movements, separate from the civilian authority, began to manifest in the countryside. A failed military coup was attempted against Allende in June 1973.<31>
In its "Agreement", on August 22, 1973, the Chamber of Deputies of Chile asserted that Chilean democracy had broken down and called for "redirecting government activity", to restore constitutional rule. Less than a month later, on September 11, 1973, the Chilean military deposed Allende, who apparently shot himself in the head to avoid capture<21><32> as the Presidential Palace was surrounded and bombed. Subsequently, rather than restore governmental authority to the civilian legislature, Augusto Pinochet exploited his role as Commander of the Army to seize total power and to establish himself at the head of a junta.

Controversy surrounds alleged CIA involvement in the coup.<33> As early as the Church Committee Report (1975), publicly available documents have indicated that the CIA attempted to prevent Allende from taking office after he was elected in 1970; the CIA itself released documents in 2000 acknowledging this and that Pinochet was one of their favored alternatives to take power.<34>

--

By early 1973, inflation had risen 800% under Allende's presidency.<37> The crippled economy was further battered by prolonged and sometimes simultaneous strikes by physicians, teachers, students, truck owners, copper workers, and the small business class. A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace (Palacio de La Moneda), Allende committed suicide.<38><39> A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime were marked by human rights violations. On October 1973, at least 72 people were murdered by the Caravan of Death.<40> At least a thousand people were executed during the first six months of Pinochet in office, and at least two thousand more were killed during the next sixteen years, as reported by the Rettig Report.<41> About 30,000 left the country, and tens of thousands of people were detained and tortured, as investigated by the 2004 Valech Commission.<42>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chile