In the 1960’s United Sates, economic interests in Chile represented an estimated 90% of the country’s foreign investments. The rise of an ideological Marxist coalition led by Salvador Allende immediately raise concerns among U.S. security advisors, policy makers, and U.S. and multinational private industrial corporations operating in Chile. In an almost instantaneous reaction from the U.S, Covert Actions in Chile begun in 1963 and were carried out thru 1974 under the executive authorization of three U.S. Presidents. Interesting, is that a Congressional investigative committee in 1975 did not find U.S. government directly involved in the Chilean government coup.
For the U.S. policymakers finding the proper balance between the management and the operating command structure was challenging, which poised the question: To what extend did the U.S. engaged in covert actions in Chile, and what if any bearing they have in future re-structuring of the leadership and accountability? What specific covert techniques were used in the operations? To answer those questions an analysis of some of the main U.S. political covert operations covering the leadership, management, and the envisioned result of the actions that consummated between the years of 1963 and 1974 is required.
Rising Communism in Chile
When U.S. covert actions in Chile began, Cuba was the sole communist regime in Latin America. The main strategic objective for operations in Chile was to prevent the emergence of another one. At the time, Chilean public support for their current government was merely moderate, supporting the case for U.S. political involvement in Chile. In addition, convincing the U.S. elites for a military intervention was very difficult speciall...
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...f the covert operations at the time, created friction among policymakers and agency representatives that transpire into inefficient oversight mechanisms from the U.S. government specifically the Congress.
Works Cited
David Hundt, Jaechun Kim. “Popular Consent and Foreign Policy Choices: War Against the
Philippines and Covert Action in Chile.” Australian Journal Of International Affairs 66, no. 1: 52-69. 2014.
Gustafson, Kristian. “Hostile Intent: U.S. Covert Operations in Chile, 1964-1974.” Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2007.
Peter, Kornbluh. “Declassifying U.S. Intervention in Chile.” NACLA Report On The Americas 6, no. 36 1999.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with the respect of intelligence activities. “Covert Action in Chile 1963-1973.” 94th Cong., 1st sess., S. Rep. 1975.
“President Bush has stated that about a hundred detainees were held under the Central Intelligence Agency secret detention program, about a third of whom were questioned using “enhanced interrogation techniques. The CIA has a way of very publicly blowing their cover seeming to pop up wherever turmoil, and political problems arise. The CIA exists to prevent threats, its operations involve covert actions or spying through various means to gather critical intelligence data. The CIA dates back to 1947. The qualifications and skills are above average. The job of the CIA is to anticipate and quickly assess rapidly evolving international developments and their impact, both positive and negative, on US policy concerns. When researching the career of
?Espionage.? 2000-2004. The War to End All Wars. Michael Duffy. Original Material. Primary Documents Online.
“The Invasion and the Failure.” The Invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. 1999. 11 April 2000 .
America had begun to indulge in the unilateral environment afforded to it during the Cold War. As the Soviet Union began to collapse in the 1980s, the United States was on its way to becoming a solo super power. This acquisition of complete power would inevitably lead the country into new problems, including those foreign and domestic. One of the main issues that came around in the 1980s for the Unites States was the Iran-Contra Affair, which involved the Reagan Administration. With the United States readily inserting influence across the globe, the Iran-Contra Affair proved how foreign intervention can lead to scandal and disgrace in the modern world. Along with detrimental scandals, the Iran-Contra Affair showed how America’s imperialistic behavior in South America was beginning to catch up. In order to remain a dominant influence in South America, the United States had no choice but to topple governments that did not align with American ideology. Using guerillas like the Contras insinuates America’s cornerstone of doing what is necessary in order to satisfy foreign interest.
The 1954 coup that deposed the democratically elected government of Guatemala has long been acknowledged to have been the result of CIA covert action. Recently declassified documents have shown a new, and more sinister light, on the CIA's involvement in an action that gave birth to some of the most brutally dictatorial regimes in modern history. No one at this point will dispute the original involvement, but there are still those who maintain that this is all water over the dam of history and that the US has not had direct responsibility for the actions of a Guatemalan government since the 1954 coup. (Evans-Pritchard)
Prados, John. Safe for Democracy The Secret Wars of the CIA. Chicago, IL: Ivan R Dee, Publisher, 2006.
“There is one evil I dread, and that is, their spies. I could wish therefore the most attentive watch be kept… I wish a dozen or more honest sensible and diligent men, were employed… in order to question, cross-question, etc., all such persons as are unknown, and cannot give an account of themselves in a straight and satisfactory manner… I think it a matter of importance to prevent these [Tory spies] from obtaining intelligence of our situation. ” – George Washington
Immerman, Richard. The CIA in Guatemala the foreign policy of intervention. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985.
The CIA’s 50-year history of smuggling drugs into America is generating hatred for the United States throughout the world. Like Pontius Pilate, CIA washes their hands of the human tragedies and the corruption of government offices. They do this by remaining and by refusing to recognize the evidence, supporting corruption. For the past 50 years, the CIA has abused its power by deliberately drugging and corrupting America; and therefore should be prosecuted.
Blight, James G., and Peter Kornbluh, eds. Politics of Illusion: The Bay of Pigs Invasion
The date September 11th is not only a date of terror for the United States, but for the country Chile it also marks the anniversary of a new error of fear. On September 11th, 1973 General Augusto Pinochet overthrew President Salvador Allende, a democratically elected socialist. For seventeen years after this Pinochet dictated over Chile and caused for the murder of over three thousand Chileans, the disappearance of over a thousand, and the torture and jailing of tens of thousands more. What might be even more shocking though, is that the United States had a direct contribution to this brutal dictators rise. The United States’ fear of communist nations developing and the ignorance of secretary of state Kissinger to mention the human rights abuses that Pinochet was responsible for, allowed for the United States to assist in the brutal tyranny (Kornbluh 2003, pages 19-22).
knowledge of the CIA and who would later would be involved in the clash between the
The tropical island of Cuba had been an object of empire for the United States. Before the Missile Crisis, the relationship between Castro and the US were strained by the Bay of Pigs occurrence in 1961. This was where counterrevolutionary Cubans were American funded and tried to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. However, the counterrevolutionaries failed. Castro then found an alliance with the Soviet Union and an increase of distrust that Castro had on the US. On January 18, 1962, the United States’ Operation Mongoose was learned. The objective would be “to help the Cubans overthrow the Communist regime” so that the US could live in peace. Consequently, Castro informed the Soviet Union that they were worried about a direct invasion on Cuba, thus longed for protection against th...
The story of the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs , located on the southern coast of Cuba about 97 miles southeast of Havana, was one of mismanagement, poor judgment , and stupidity ( " Bay Pigs " 378). The blame for the failed invasion falls directly on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and a young man by the name of President John F. Kennedy. The whole purpose of the invasion was a communist assault Cuba and Fidel Castro ended . Ironically , thirty nine years after the Bay of Pigs , Fidel Castro remains in power . First, we need to analyze why the invasion happened and then why it did not work .
Third world countries became the perfect battleground for cold war proxy battles during the early 1940’s to late 1990’s. United States wanted to flex its political muscle and try to curtail the spread of Soviet Communism in the developing nations. Most of the nations in developed world had already made their political and socio-economic stand regarding the form of governance and leadership pursued. Underdeveloped nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa were still vulnerable and easily influenced in terms of ideologies and political direction. Most nations in Latin America like Chile were recovering from colonialism and thus logistic, economic and political aid from powerful nations to propel their economies which made it easy for Americans and Russians to act as their “saviors’”. The quest for global dominance had intensified between United States and USSR and the shift was focused to developing nations like Chile. Both Americans and Russians used different mechanisms to enhance their propaganda and support the regimes which were friendly to them and used any means necessary to topple hostile regimes. CIA used covert operations in Chile and most of the Latin nations to plant their puppet leaders in order to safeguard their foreign policy interests and maintain dominance. Military coups and social unrests were planned, orchestrated and executed with the assistance of CIA. The research paper tries to critical analyze the impact of the cold war on Chile and influence of United States.