WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Former US President Richard Nixon’s administration strongly supported the military coup that brought Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet to power on September 11, 1973, according to a report released by the US State Department’s Office of the Historian.
"President Nixon in 1970 instructed the DCI [US Director of Central Intelligence] to promote a coup d’état against Chilean President Salvador Allende," the report, released on Friday, stated.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the report continued, published a memorandum that recounted the operational details of US covert actions in Chile in response to instructions President Nixon gave in 1970.
On, September 24, 1973, nearly two weeks after the coup, the Nixon administration announced its controversial decision to extend diplomatic recognition to the military junta under Pinochet, the report pointed out.
The latest release by the Office of the Historian includes newly-transcribed Nixon tape recordings that add context and detail to the President’s posture toward Allende. It also contains several documents on human rights violations in the aftermath of the coup.
The documents were released as part of a series that present the official documentary historical record of major US foreign policy decisions as established by law in 1991, according to the State Department.
