CIA’s Connections to Pinochet Overlooked
The Dec. 14 article, “Pinochet Competent, Must Stand Trial, Judge Rules,” omits the fact that the CIA endorsed, if not directly supported, the 1973 coup that overthrew Salvador Allende and put Augusto Pinochet in power. The CIA’s website states that it “continued some ongoing propaganda projects, including support for news media committed to creating a positive image for the military Junta.” “The military Junta” is CIA-talk for Pinochet’s dictatorial government. The CIA website also admits that the Nixon administration sought to instigate an anti-Allende coup in 1970.
Such omissions exemplify The Times’ failure to uphold the Fourth Estate. With the major news networks and now the papers failing to make connections and put events in their historical context, I guess all we have left to turn to is Jon Stewart.
Matt Werner
Berkeley
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