[hinckley buzzard]

It has been generally understood that the CIA orchestrated the coup. Allende was a communist. Just part of the Cold War. One would certainly hope the president would be kept advised as to what was happening. Not sure how this is especially newsworthy.

[pierrem15]

It has been generally understood that the CIA orchestrated the coup.

Not really sure that's the case. My understanding is that the Chilean coup plotters asked their US contacts if the US would oppose a coup, to which they replied, "No."

[pepsionice]

I doubt if Nixon knew much of anything, other than after-action reporting.

Footnote: the assassination attempt against French President De Gaulle led to a in-depth situation where CIA figures were figured as part of that deal. De Gaulle calls Kennedy in the summer of 1963....asking what the hell was going on. Kennedy knew nothing.

[nonliberal]

Pinochet did nothing wrong.

[Zhang Fei]

[It has been generally understood that the CIA orchestrated the coup.]

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Anyone who says the CIA orchestrated *anything* is mistaking CIA braggadocio (for funding and personal career advancement) for reality. The KGB failed to control foreign communist movements, and not for lack of trying, despite an almost religious fervor in these movements. The only tie the CIA had with respect to its foreign contacts was a sliver of funding. That’s not enough to obtain any kind of subservience, especially with respect coups in which the participants were staking not just their lives, but the lives of family and friends. In coups, the losers don’t die alone.