Event
Track II, 1970
The CIA effort, ordered by President Nixon on 15 September 1970, to promote a military coup in Chile before Allende could take office.
- Dates
- 15 Sep 1970 – 24 Oct 1970
- Also known as
- Track II
Connections 9
interventions
- Henry Kissinger 12 Sep 1970 on 12 September 1970 told Helms by telephone, “We will not let Chile go down the drain,” the National Security Archive reports Scholarship & press 1
- Central Intelligence Agency 15 Sep 1970 instructed by President Nixon on 15 September 1970 to play a direct role in organizing a military coup Primary record 2
- Richard Nixon 15 Sep 1970 instructed the CIA on 15 September 1970 to play a direct role in organizing a military coup Primary record 2
involved
- Henry Kissinger attended the 15 September 1970 meeting with Nixon and Helms Primary record 3
- Richard Helms his handwritten notes of the meeting read “One in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile!”, “$10,000,000 available, more if necessary” and “make the economy scream” Primary record 3
- Santiago CIA Headquarters cabled its Station there on 21 September 1970 that a military solution was the objective (the report prints the cable twice, once with “Paramilitary” in place of “Parliamentary”) Primary record 3
- Central Intelligence Agency its Deputy Director for Plans told the Committee the seeds laid in 1970 “had their impact in 1973” Primary record 3
- United States government the Committee could not resolve whether the White House knew of the CIA’s coup activity after 15 October, as the CIA testified, or had stood it down, as Kissinger and Haig testified Primary record 3
appears in
- Covert Action in Chile 1963–1973 told in the Church Committee’s staff report Primary record 2
Timeline 4 dates
- 12 Sep 1970 Henry Kissinger intervened in Track II, 1970
- 15 Sep 1970 – 24 Oct 1970 Track II, 1970
- 15 Sep 1970 Central Intelligence Agency intervened in Track II, 1970
- 15 Sep 1970 Richard Nixon intervened in Track II, 1970
Proof 3 sources
-
Kissinger and the Chilean coup: documents posted on the 40th anniversary (Electronic Briefing Book No. 437), National Security Archive, George Washington University, 11 Sep 2013.
Scholarship & press
We will not let Chile go down the drain,
-
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
instructed the CIA to play a direct role in organizing a military coup d'etat in Chile to prevent Allende's accession to the Presidency.
President Nixon informed CIA Director Richard Helms that an Allende regime in Chile would not be acceptable to the United States
That attempt, the so-called "Track II," is the subject of a separate Committee report
-
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
President Nixon met with his Assistant for National Security Affairs, Henry Kissinger, CIA Director Richard Helms, and Attorney General John Mitchell
One in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile!
$10,000,000 available, more if necessary
make the economy scream
Purpose of exercise is to prevent Allende assumption of power. Parliamentary legerdemain has been discarded. Military solution is objective.
I am sure that the seeds that were laid in that effort in 1970 had their impact in 1973.
On one side of the conflict is the testimony of Henry Kissinger and General Alexander Haig; on the other, that of CIA officials.
Page history 1 change
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