Augusto Pinochet was a ruthless dictator who , with the CIA ’s help , bring down the democratically elect politics of Chile in 1973 . But what did the CIA really think of Pinochet ? Newly released biographic written report expend words like “ warm , ” “ meek - mannered , ” and “ businesslike . ”
I recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the CIA ’s biographical theme on Pinochet from 1972 to 1976 . Pinochet ’s regime oversaw the torment , ravishment , murder , and disappearing of thousands of Chileans during his rule from 1973 until 1990 . But his anti - communistic attitudes were enough to make him a strong American ally for almost two decades .
Pinochet ’s Caesarism institutionalized acts of domestic terrorism through murder and rape in at least 17 torture center across the country . Yet the CIA ’s reports from 1976 claim that while he ’s “ not a charismatic man , he is nevertheless genuinely popular in Chile . ” It also notes Pinochet ’s hatred for Senator Ted Kennedy , who wanted to stop the flow of American money to Chile .
The CIA ’s biographic report , dated April 28 , 1976 , acknowledge that while Pinochet can be “ externally tough ” and “ inflexible ” he ’s also “ warm and fatherly . ” Again , the CIA is talking about a man with domesticated center where at least 35,000 people were subjugate to brutish physical and psychological torture , andsystematic ravishment .
One of the most interesting quirks in the reports is that the CIA repeatedly take a firm stand that Pinochet has no veridical interestingness in politics , but then depart on to explain how the authoritarian plans to wipe out any tincture of Marxist influence in the rural area . Apparently , in the eyes of the CIA , one can be “ not political ” while seek to ruin anyone with a very specific set of political theme they do n’t agree with .
Another fascinating panorama of the single file occur from November , 1974 — one year after the bloody coup that ousted socialist President Salvador Allende in September 1973 . As register below , the CIA formerly redacted portions of that file that called Pinochet “ quiet , ” “ mild - mannered , ” and “ earnest . ” They also redacted portions of the file that referred to his drinking and smoke .
Peter Kornbluh , a reporter from The National Security Archive who help discover just how substantial the CIA ’s involvement in the 1973 coup was , published an earlier reading of that filein 2006 , short after Pinochet died . But Kornbluh ’s version had some redaction about Pinochet ’s personal life , as you’re able to see below .
The CIA reports note again and again just how “ unpolitical ” Pinochet was . But one translation of the biographic report from May 1976 , and newly released to Gizmodo , describes Pinochet as an “ rigid anti - Communist . ”
A man know for his toughness , he will not tolerate any oppositeness to the government .
[ Augusto Pinochet ] is an inflexible anti - Communist , and dislike politicians of all persuasions , charge them for the chaos that necessitated the Allende upset .
The CIA then acknowledges in the same report that international critic consider Pinochet to be “ the personification of all the evils they see in Chile . ” How does the CIA feel about this ? The Indian file generally have a tone of superciliousness , calling him “ unsophisticated in international sexual intercourse ” when it comes to human rights . But the representation is intelligibly defensive on his behalf , even using the word “ abusive ” to describe “ personal criticism from abroad . ”
Pinochet left power in 1990 , let Chile to on the face of it become a democracy , while pull up stakes some of his top torturers in power with police positions . But in an over-the-top move , prosecuting officer in Spain render to deport Pinochet in October of 1998 while he was having surgery in London .
Pinochet was stop , which set off an international firestorm as a felonious school principal of State Department was about to be bring to justice . He remained under house stop in England for over a year , where he even received favorable Edgar Guest like Margaret Thatcher . But political haggle by British politician , in opposition to their own High Court , finally allowed Pinochet to take flight to Chile in March of 2000 . Pinochet died in 2006 .
On a related note , Henry Kissinger — the American who helped orchestrate the 1973 Chilean coup , starting with the assassination of a top military officerin 1970 — is still walk around a free man .
I ’ve upload all the CIA biographic reports from 1972 - 1976here .
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