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Event

The shooting of General Schneider, 1970

General René Schneider was shot in a kidnap attempt on 22 October 1970 and died on 25 October.

4 links, 4 backed by primary records

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Dates
22–25 Oct 1970

Connections 4

involved

  • René Schneider shot on 22 October 1970 in a kidnap attempt; died on 25 October; the Committee wrote that as a constitutionalist opposed to coups he was considered an obstacle Primary record 1
  • United States government the Committee found officials continued to encourage and support coup plans after it was known the first step would be to kidnap Schneider Primary record 1
  • Central Intelligence Agency passed three submachine guns, with knowledge that earlier kidnap attempts had failed; the attaché was authorized to pay $50,000, “the price agreed upon between the plotters and the unidentified team of abductors”; the Committee found no evidence of a plan to kill Schneider and that the guns used were in all probability not the CIA’s, and the staff report says the CIA’s guns “were returned” Primary record 12
  • Central Intelligence Agency its 2000 report says the Viaux group acted independently of the CIA at that time, and that in November 1970 $35,000 was passed to a member of that group to keep the prior contact secret Primary record 3
Timeline 1 date
  1. 22–25 Oct 1970 The shooting of General Schneider, 1970
Proof 3 sources
  1. Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders: Interim Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (Senate Report 94-465), U.S. Senate, 1975. Primary record Archived copy
    On October 25, 1970, General Schneider died of gunshot wounds inflicted three days earlier while resisting a kidnap attempt.
    was considered an obstacle in efforts to prevent Salvador Allende from assuming the office of President of Chile.
    United States officials continued to encourage and support Chilean plans for a coup after it became known that the first step would be to kidnap General Schneider.
    the CIA passed three submachine guns and ammunition to Chilean officers who still planned to kidnap General Schneider.
    which was the price agreed upon between the plotters and the unidentified team of abductors
    There is no evidence of a plan to kill Schneider or that United States officials specifically anticipated that Schneider would be shot during the abduction.
    The guns used in the abortive kidnapping of General Schneider were, in all probability, not those supplied by the CIA to the conspirators.
  2. Covert Action in Chile 1963–1973: Staff Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, U.S. Senate, 18 Dec 1975. Primary record Archived copy
    However, those guns were returned.
  3. CIA Activities in Chile (report to Congress, 18 September 2000), Central Intelligence Agency, 18 Sep 2000. Primary record Archived copy
    On 22 October the Viaux group, acting independently of the CIA at that time, carried out an attempted abduction against General Schneider that resulted in his death.
    in an effort to keep the prior contact secret, maintain the good will of the group, and for humanitarian reasons, $35,000 was passed.
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