myers@uwvax.UUCP (Jeff Myers) (10/03/84)
Thought netters might be interested in a letter I wrote recently
in response to some "media propaganda". :-}
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Editorial Editor
Badger Herald
638 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
Dear Sir,
An article entitled "The Truth About Allende's Chile" appeared in
your June 18, 1984 edition. I would like to focus your (and your
readers') attention to two major half-truths printed in the arti-
cle.
The first concerns the economic pressures applied to Chile by the
United States (which consisted not simply of halting the flow of
money but of crucial spare parts, expertise, etc.). The article
implies that there was no concerted action on the part of the
Nixon administration to apply such pressure on the Chilean peo-
ple. The error of this implication is aptly pointed out by the
minutes of the September 15, 1970 (before Allende was inau-
gurated) meeting between Nixon, Kissenger, and Richard Helms:
"1 in 10 chance perhaps, but save Chile! worth spending; not
concerned risks involved; no involvement of embassy; $10,000,000
available, more if necessary; full-time job -- best men we have;
game plan; make the economy scream..."
That last excerpt from the minutes says more than 1000 columns of
Herald newsprint. One may find this little gem on p. 96 of the
Church (US Senate) Committee report on US covert action in Chile
(Law Library government document Y4.In8/17:In8/v.7).
The second half-truth involves your columnist's contention that
the CIA did not aid and abet the crippling truckers' strikes.
Mr. Sczygelski states that the Senate Select Committee acquited
the CIA of this charge. He obviously (perhaps intentionally) did
not read the document particularly closely. No direct aid,
perhaps, but the CIA is rarely so stupid.
The report states (on p. 178) that "...all observers agree that
the two lengthy [truckers'] strikes could not have been main-
tained on the basis of union funds. It remains unclear whether
or to what extent CIA funds passed to opposition parties may have
been siphoned off to support strikes. It is clear that anti-
government strikers were actively supported by several of the
private sector groups which received CIA funds. There were
extensive links between these private sector organizations and
the groups which coordinated and implemented the strikes. In
November 1972 the CIA learned that one private sector group had
passed $2,800 directly to the strikers, contrary to the Agency's
ground rules. The CIA rebuked the group but nevertheless passed
it additional money the next month."
The CIA also siphoned money to Patria y Libertad, an extremist
rightist group which agitated for a military "solution", and to
the opposition parties mentioned above. Between 1971 and 1973,
the Nixon administration authorized four million dollars for
opposition parties in Chile. Adjusting for the population
difference between our two countries, that is similar to the USSR
giving $80,000,000 to, say, the CPUSA over a three year period.
Rightists in Madison often wax indignant over the "irresponsible
journalism" of the Daily Cardinal. Well, at least the latter
does its homework.
Sincerely,
Jeff Myers
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Comments? Improvements? It's really a pity y'all don't know
much about the editorial battles between the Daily Cardinal
(the official student newspaper) and the Badger Herald (a privately
organized and run student weekly). Both are free; one is never
short of material to read when taking a dump or eating one's lunch
in Madison.
Jeff M.