The New Evidence

The following is the partial text of a letter written July 18 by Rep. Michael J. Harrington '62 (D-Mass.). The letter was sent to Congressional leaders in an effort to provoke further investigations into the role played by the CIA in destabilizing the government of Salvador Allende. The revelations in the letter, first made public by New York Times reporter Seymour Hersh, prompted the current flurry of protest over U.S. interference in Chilean affairs. The "40 Committee" referred to by Harrington was headed by Kissinger.

Over the 1962 to 1973 period, the 40 Committee (an interdepartmental body that reviews and authorizes all covert CIA activities and is chaired by the President's Advisor on National Security Affairs) authorized the expenditure of approximately $11 million to help prevent the election of Allende and, in Mr. Colby's words, "destabilize" the Allende government so as to precipitate its downfall. The agency activities in Chile were viewed as a prototype, or laboratory experiment, to test the techniques of heavy financial investment in efforts to discredit and bring down a government.

Funding was provided to individuals, political parties, and media outlets in Chile, through channels in other countries in both Latin America and Europe. Mr. Colby's description of these operations was direct, though not to the point of identifying actual contacts and conduits.

A total of $3 million was sent in 1964 to the Christian Democratic Party in Chile that was opposing Allende in the national elections. Also in 1964, unidentified American corporations suggested that the CIA serve as a conduit for corporate funds that would finance anti-Allende activities, but that idea was rejected as unworkable. Approximately $500,000 was authorized in 1969 to fund individuals who could be nurtured to keep the anti-Allende forces active and intact.

During the 1970 election, in which Allende eventually was elected President, $500,000 was given to opposition party personnel. An expenditure of $350,000 was authorized to bribe the Chilean Congress, which at that time was faced with deciding a run-off election between Allende and the opposition candidate. The bribe would have been part of a scheme to overturn the results of the election in which Allende had gained a plurality, but that plan, although originally approved by the 40 Committee, was later evaluated as unworkable.

The testimony indicates that the Agency role in 1970 was viewed as that of the "spoiler," involving general attempts to politically destabilize the country and discredit Allende to improve the likelihood that an opposition candidate would win.

Following the election of Allende, $5 million was authorized by the 40 Committee for more destabilization efforts during the period from 1971 to 1973. An additional $1.5 million was spent for the 1973 municipal elections. Some of these funds were used to support an unnamed but influential anti-Allende newspaper.

Although a specific request in the summer of 1973 for $50,000 to assist the trucker's strike was turned down, the 40 Committee did authorize in August, 1973 an expenditure of $1 million for further political destabilization activities. This final authorization came without any apparent deterrent being posed by the recent completed hearings into ITT involvement in Chile and the Senate Watergate Committee's disclosure of CIA activities related to Watergate.

The full plan authorized in August was called off when the military coup occurred less than one month later. In the aftermath of the coup, however, funds that had been committed were spent. These included $25,000 to one individual to purchase a radio station and $9,000 to finance a trip to other Latin American capitals to reassure them about the new military leaders.