A group of US senators introduced a resolution this Thursday apologizing for the role of the United States in the Chilean dictatorship and calling for greater transparency and greater declassification of US documents relating to the events.
Sponsored by progressive lawmakers Bernie Sanders, Tim Kaine, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Joaquín Castro, Greg Casar, Jeff Merkley and Chris Murphy, the text expresses “deep regret at the United States’ contribution to the destabilization of Chilean and Chilean political institutions .” the constitutional processes.
This resolution, which has yet to be voted on, deplores the United States’ “help in consolidating General Pinochet’s repressive military dictatorship” and emphasizes that “full accountability” requires the release of the documents that the country has not yet submitted on the events leading up to the coup and the events that followed.
The text is written to mark the 50th anniversary of that coup and reminds us that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in the words of then National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, “created the greatest possible conditions for the military seizure of power”.
His proposal also recognizes that the United States Congress played a crucial role in bringing to light the “atrocities” committed against Chileans by the Augusto Pinochet regime (1973-1990).
Equally remarkable is the effort by pro-democracy forces in Chile, with the support of human rights movements in the United States and other countries, to end the dictatorship and restore civilian rule.
Sanders and the other lawmakers called on the Chilean people to applaud “for rebuilding a strong and resilient democracy against the forces of authoritarianism” and maintained their commitment to support the “truth and reconciliation process.”
On August 25, the United States released two presidential reports on this coup.
In the first, dated September 8, 1973, advisers to then US President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) warned of a “possible coup attempt” in the Latin American country, and in the second, dated September 11, they reported that several “important military units” supported the uprising supported that day.
But there are still documents that need to be declassified, and there are voices demanding that Washington acknowledge its role not only in the overthrow of Salvador Allende, but also in the country’s previous unrest and subsequent support for the Pinochet regime.
