U.S. Looks at Pinochet Link in ’76 Car Bombing

Federal investigators have found evidence that may be sufficient to indict Gen. Augusto Pinochet for conspiracy to commit murder in the 1976 car bombing that killed a former Chilean diplomat and opposition politician, Orlando Letelier, on Washington’s Embassy Row.

Among the evidence is testimony that an angry Pinochet intervened to strip Letelier of his Chilean citizenship days before Letelier died Sept. 21, 1976. An American colleague of Letelier, Ronni Moffitt, also died in the blast.

Justice Department officials said they do not underestimate the difficulty of indicting Pinochet for acts that took place 24 years ago in a foreign country. And even if he is indicted, the officials said, a trial in the United States is highly unlikely because he recently was excused from trial in Britain on grounds of ill health and has returned to Chile.

Still, the officials said, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno is committed to pursuing the investigation of the Letelier killing, which the Justice Department considers a state-sponsored act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

“She is extremely committed to seeing that justice is done in the case but has not reached a decision that the evidence supports an indictment,” a senior Justice Department official said.

While prosecutors have no direct evidence that Pinochet ordered Letelier’s killing, they believe that the ex-dictator’s effort to strip Letelier of his citizenship goes a long way toward showing that Pinochet had a motive for the murder of the well-known leftist.

The Justice Department reopened its long-dormant investigation, code-named Chilbom, after Pinochet was arrested in Britain 19 months ago.