1973 Chilean Coup and US complicity

[Peter Lemkin]

My country used TERRORISM against Chile's Salvadore Allende and his democratically elected and popular government!......that makes two 9-11's that my country used TERRORISM [both times disguised as being mostly 'done' by other players]. Gitmo would be too good for Kissinger and Nixon and all the others who played their parts in the first 9-11!

NB - on the three days leading up to and including 9-11 DemocracyNow! had really fantastic interviews with those who were there in Chile and survived.....do listen and perhaps record.

[Tracy Riddle]

[Tracy Riddle]

[Peter Lemkin]

40 Years After Chilean Coup, Allende Aide Juan Garcés on How He Brought Pinochet to Justice

Wednesday marks the 40th anniversary of the so-called "other 9/11": On September 11, 1973, a U.S.-backed coup led by General Augusto Pinochet ousted the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende. It is estimated more than 3,000 people were killed during Pinochet's dictatorship, which lasted another 17 years. In 1998, Pinochet was arrested in London on torture and genocide charges on a warrant issued by a Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzón. His arrest came largely thanks to the efforts of our guest, Spanish attorney Juan Garcés. A personal adviser to Allende, Garcés was with him on the day of the coup. Allende walked him to the palace exit before it was bombed and told him to tell the world what he had seen. Garcés went on to lead the efforts for Pinochet to be arrested and tried.

Transcript

AMY GOODMAN: Singer-songwriter Víctor Jara, who was tortured and executed during the Chilean coup of Salvador Allende. September 11, 1973, the coup began. He died a few days later in or around the stadium, which is now called Víctor Jara Stadium. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report . I'm Amy Goodman, with Aaron Maté. To see my interview with Joan Jara, the widow of Víctor Jara that we conducted yesterday, you can go to our website at democracynow.org, as well is with Joyce Horman, who is the widow of Charlie Horman, a young American freelance journalist who also died in those days after the coup, killed by the Pinochet forces. Aaron?
AARON MATÉ: Well, we turn now to the 40th anniversary of the so-called "other 9/11," the one that occurred in Chile on September 11th, 1973. A U.S.-backed coup led by General Augusto Pinochet ousted the democratically elected President Salvador Allende. It's estimated over 3,000 people were killed during Pinochet's dictatorship, which lasted a further 17 years.
Today, Chile continues to grapple with Pinochet's repressive and neoliberal legacy, and the country is the middle of an intense presidential election between two contenders with family ties to the coup. Evelyn Matthei, candidate of the right-wing Independent Democratic Union party, is the daughter of retired Air Force General Fernando Matthei, who served in Augusto Pinochet's military junta. Her opponent is Michelle Bachelet, Chile's Socialist Party president from 2006 to 2010. She is the daughter of another famous Air Force general, Alberto Bachelet, who was imprisoned and tortured to death for refusing to support Allende's overthrow. Chilean human rights groups have petitioned the courts to hold General Matthei, who commanded the base where General Bachelet died, responsible for his death.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, one general who did face prosecution for crimes against humanity was General Augusto Pinochet, thanks in large part to the efforts of our next guest, Juan Garcés. Garcés served as the personal adviser to President Salvador Allende. He was with him the day of the coup, September 11, 1973. Allende walked him to the palace exit before it was bombed, and told him to tell the world what he had seen. Garcés later led efforts for Pinochet to be arrested and tried.
We're also joined by Peter Kornbluh, who spearheaded the effort to declassify more than 20,000 secret documents that revealed the role of the CIA and the White House in the Chilean coup. Kornbluh is the author of the just newly published The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability, which has been updated in a new edition that has just come out this week. Peter Kornbluh is also director of the Chile Documentation Project at the National Security Archive and has just returned from Chile. His latest piece in The Nation magazine, "Chileans Confront Their Own 9/11: Forty Years After Pinochet's Coup, a Historic Presidential Campaign Has Revived Debates About his DictatorshipAnd Washington's Role in It." And that's what we're going to talk about today.
Juan Garcés, you have also published a new book simply called Allende. Talk about that day 40 years ago tomorrow, 40 years ago, September 11, 1973, when you were with President Allende in the palace. Talk about what happened.
JUAN GARCÉS: Well, 40 years before, Chile was the most developed, democratic country in the Spanish-speaking world, with a robust Parliament and robust political parties, effective freedom of the press, providence in the society to different opinions and worships. And suddenly, in one day, all changed. What is interesting to consider is that before this livingthis living democracy was replaced by a regime where there were systematic torture, extraordinarythere were acts of terrorism againstagainst the democratic society, extrajudicial executions, extraordinaryhow do you saykidnappings and sending the people to another country to be tortured, renditionextraordinary renditions. And the Plan Condor, the cooperation among the international
AMY GOODMAN: Operation Condor.
JUAN GARCÉS: Operation Condor.
AMY GOODMAN: That extended to places like Argentina and others.
JUAN GARCÉS: And the coordination between the regional services to kidnap the respective archenemies and torture them and making them disappear. And what is a matter of concern that the methods that were applied by this dictatorship against the people that was for a representative form of government, those methods you can see them working now and being applied worldwide. You have extraordinary renditions. You have extrajudicial killings. You have secret centers of detentions.
AMY GOODMAN: You're talking about the United States now?
JUAN GARCÉS: I am very concerned that those methods, the habeas corpus ineffectiveness, were applied in Chile with the knowledge and the backing of the Nixon-Kissinger administration in this period. And I am very concerned that the same methods are being applied now underin other explanations, in many countries with the backing of the United States. That is something that isI consider as very dangerous for everyone.
AMY GOODMAN: Before we continue on that path, I did want to just capture this moment 40 years ago, when you were in the palace with Salvador Allende and others of his advisers. Explain what happened next, how he died and you lived.
JUAN GARCÉS: Well, I worked with President Allende the night before the coup. And I slept in his home, and I went with him to the presidential palace, because this was the day in which the president will address a message to the nation, openingcalling for a referendum where the citizens will, in their box, decide which future they were preferring: the one that was proposed by the government andor the one that was proposed by opposition in the Parliament. So, the referendum was open. And in placeand then we were preparing this message to the nation. And in the time that the message should be sent to the airwaves, through the TV, in place of that, there was the attack by airplanes, by artillery, by infantry, with the [inaudible] of killing the president. And, well, this was a political fight. At 9:00 a.m., I asked the president how"Do you have some regiment, your side?" And the answer was, "No, no regiment." So, in terms ofin military terms, the outcome was very clear: There were not any capability of military resistance.
So, why Allende resisted still three, four hours more and decided to fight until his death, this is a political message of resistance, of a legitimate commander-in-chief of the army forces that was facing an insurrection, an act of indiscipline, and he didn't abandon his post of command, and he faced, with the resources that he had, particularly the legitimacy, democratic legitimacy, and that he wanted to let this heritage to his people. And we are now realizing that 40 years later this legacy, this political legacy, is being taken in their hands by Chilean people.
AMY GOODMAN: He took you to the palace exit?
JUAN GARCÉS: Yes. The land infantry and artillery attack began around 9:00 until 11:00. Then the silence said that the airplanes will bomb in a matter of 15 minutes. In this moment, his assistants, all civil assistants, his staff, around 15 people, were with him. We were with him, and he offered them, each one, to have freedom to outside the palace and saved their life, because for him it was very clear that he will resist until the last moment, because he considered that it was his duty as a president elected by the people and with the legitimacy of the republic institutions. And nobody accepted to leave him alone. He made with me an exception. He asked me to save my life, with some recommendations, so I
AMY GOODMAN: What did he tell you to do?
JUAN GARCÉS: Well, one of the things that he told me is what you said a few moments ago, that given my very close, unique cooperation with him, I was in the measure of explaining what was the government doing during the three years in government, why we were doing what we have done, and which goal, object. And so, he considered that I was the person that could explain better what was the real meaning of this government.

[Peter Lemkin]

Operation Condor: Chilean Media Tycoon Admits Meeting with CIA Ahead of Coup

By Sam Edwards & Clémence Docuhez-Lortet / Santiago Times October 8th, 2013inShare

Agustín Edwards is currently facing a lawsuit for his role in the 1973 military coup. Photo by Luisaxt / Twitter

El Mercurio owner Agustín Edwards acknowledges meeting US intelligence agency but denies receiving funding to destabilize ousted President Salvador Allende.

A trial investigating the role played by the owner of Chile's largest media group in the 1973 coup has turned to the involvement of the CIA following Augustín Edwards Eastman's admission of meeting with U.S. intelligence agents.

Agustín Edwards is currently facing a lawsuit for his role in the 1973 military coup. Photo by Luisaxt / Twitter
Edwards, owner of El Mercurio S.A.P, has admitted meeting with the CIA but denied receiving funding as part of the U.S. intelligence agency's efforts to destabilize President Salvador Allende's democratically elected Marxist government.
Appearing as a defendant in a lawsuit brought against him by two associations representing families of victims of Gen. Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, Edwards denied the charge of criminal involvement in the lead up to the military coup of Sept. 11, 1973.
Edwards' case is the first lawsuit to bring charges against a civilian for a role in the coup, though others have been fingered. Along with the media baron, the Association of Families of the Disappeared (AFDD) and the Association of Families of Victims of Political Execution (AFEP), have implicated three other high profile public figures including: Former President Patricio Aylwin of the center-left Christian Democrats (DC), Roberto Thieme and Pablo Rodríguez Grez, secretary general and president of the ultra-right paramilitary group Patria y Libertad respectively.

Edwards, Kissinger and the CIA

In his testimony Edwards denied unequivocally information brought forward by Peter Kornbluh, John Dinges and declassified CIA documents that paint him as one of the principal authors of the overthrow of Allende.
Edwards admits meeting with then-CIA director Richard Helms and then U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger on Sept. 15, 1970, shortly after Allende triumphed in Chile's election. He maintains, however, that attempts to destabilize the Marxist government were not discussed.
"The meeting [with Helms and Kissinger] took place days after Salvador Allende's election, and we talked about the fact that a communist president was elected in a democratic country, but we never discussed inciting a coup or the transfer of funds to El Mercurio," Edwards said during his testimony.
Kornbluh, author of "The Pinochet Files" and head of the National Security Archive's Chile documentation project, said the documents from the time tell a different story.
The evidence shows that Edwards personally played the role of lead lobbyist for an aggressive pro-coup policy from the United States against Allende's election and government," Kornbluh told The Santiago Times.
Lawyer for the prosecution, Eduardo Contreras, repeatedly questioned Edwards over the issue of CIA funding. Despite evidence in the form of declassified CIA documents, Edwards denied the paper was part of an orchestrated propaganda campaign.
"I repeat that El Mercurio has not received money from the United States, nor did it have a close relationship with the CIA," he said.
Kornbluh speculated that additional CIA documents that currently remain classified may further incriminate Edwards.
"The CIA does not funnel US$2 million to places like El Mercurio without keeping records of when, how and how much," Kornbluh said. "There are budget, payment and meeting reports written by CIA bagmen who transferred monies to Edwards Group officials that remain secret."
While testifying in court, Edwards denied having any editorial control over the El Mercurio media group, in an attempt to distance himself from the accusations of propaganda.
"I am a shareholder of El Mercurio and on the board of directors, but neither now nor then did I have any control of its editorial line," Edwards said.
Zúñiga refuted Edwards' claim, maintaining the paper operated as a propaganda wing of the government during Pinochet's dictatorship.
"[Edwards] has always encouraged an editorial line that was absolutely supportive of the dictatorship," Zúñiga told The Santiago Times. "[El Mercurio] is completely incorrect behind a facade of seriousness. Here in Chile, if El Mercurio says something, you can be sure it was said by the authorities."
Speaking at the trial, Contreras reportedly said that through his denial of any involvement in promoting a coup, Edwards remained true to the iconic rebuff coined by student protesters in 1967 against the paper "El Mercurio miente," or "El Mercurio lies."

Other authors of the coup?

The AFDD has pointed fingers at several other civilians for their involvement in the coup, most prominently Patricio Aylwin of the center-left Christian Democratic (DC) party who became the first president following Chile's return to democracy in 1989.
Gabriela Zúñiga, communications director for the AFDD, explained that the inclusion and testimony of former president Aylwin is an important part of the overall case.
"The Christian Democratic party played a fundamental role in the coup," she told The Santiago Times. "Today, the DC is trying to whitewash and clean up its past, which is almost impossible as they supported the coup. And within the DC the person who backed the coup was Patricio Aylwin."
http://www.santiagotimes.cl/chile/human-...ad-of-coup

[Peter Lemkin]

It is a film called "Nostalgia For The Light' and can be found complete on the internet [if you're clever].....what a wonderful film!

[Peter Lemkin]

Nostalgia for the Light review

Astronomy provides release from Chile's traumas in a stunning documentary

• 
  
• • Peter Bradshaw
    
    
  • The Guardian, Thursday 12 July 2012
    
  
  

Massive alienness … Nostalgia for the Light.

It isn't simply that Patricio Guzmán's Chilean documentary Nostalgia for the Light is moving: it has a tragic grandeur that really is very remarkable. It is deeply intelligent, intensely and painfully political, and yet attempts, and succeeds, somehow to transcend politics and perhaps even history itself. The film found its starting point in the title of a 1987 book by the French scientist Michel Cassé: Nostalgia for the Light: Mountains and Wonders of Astrophysics. It reflects on how a golden age for Chilean astronomy was due to begin in the vast lunar landscape of the Atacama desert whose high altitude and dry climate made it the ideal site for a huge new observatory in 1977 and promised to open up the country as a scientific Mecca. More on this film
But in the same era Chile was destined to be a closed society, and Atacama became known as the site for the Chacabuco Mine prisons: the concentration camps instituted by General Pinochet for political opponents. Later, bodies were buried in secret mass graves in the desert. Some were uncovered the resulting TV pictures have echoes of Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia and wartime Germany but not all. Now, in 2012, the grim and bitter business of searching goes on. The wives and sisters of the disappeared, now old women, continue their daunting task in the colossal desert, and will do so until death overtakes them. Guzmán interviews one, Violeta Barrios, and it is a stunning and heart-rending piece of cinema.





Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw and Catherine Shoard's video review of Nostalgia for the Light Link to video: Nostalgia for the Light The astronomy itself continues: the study in which many of the film's interviewees hope to find a distraction or redemption. There is something Kubrickian in the way Guzmán evokes the desert's massive alienness, and the images border on the hallucinatory. It is as if Atacama is the distant planet, being watched by another astronomer on the moon. One interviewee says Chile needs an observatory that can look at its own landscape, find the missing bodies, uncover and root out all its unresolved agony. One young astronomer, whose parents were taken away during the Pinochet years, says: "Astronomy has helped me give another dimension to the pain and loss." Her candour and courage are deeply moving. For Guzmán, the science of astronomy is not simply an ingenious metaphor for political issues, or a way of anaesthetising the pain by claiming that it is all tiny, relative to the reaches of space. Astronomy is a mental discipline, a way of thinking, feeling and clarifying, and a way of insisting on humanity in the face of barbarism. This is one of the films of the year.