Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman
November 13, 2000 Media
Note
Chile Declassification Project: Final Release
Today the Department of State, the Central Intelligence
Agency, the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the National Archives and Records Administration, and the National
Security Council are releasing newly declassified and other documents
related to events in Chile from 1968-91. These documents are part
of a discretionary review of U.S. government files related to
human rights abuses, terrorism, and other acts of political violence
prior to and during the Pinochet era in Chile. National Security
Council staff coordinated this interagency effort on behalf of
the President.
Agencies made an initial release of approximately
5,800 documents on June 30, 1999 concentrating on the period from
1973-78, which corresponds to the period of the most flagrant
human rights abuses in Chile. A second release of over 1,100 documents
concentrating on the 1968-72 period followed on October 8, 1999.
While the focus for this final release was on documents dated
from 1979-91, additional documents from the earlier periods are
also being released today.
This third and final release consists of some 16,000
documents, including some 12,000 State documents. Information
has been withheld from some of the released documents to protect
the privacy of individuals, sensitive law enforcement information,
and intelligence sources and methods, or to prevent serious harm
to ongoing diplomatic activities of the United States.
One goal of the project is to put original documents
before the public so that it may judge for itself the extent to
which U.S. actions undercut the cause of democracy and human rights
in Chile. Actions approved by the U.S. government during this
period aggravated political polarization and affected Chile's
long tradition of democratic elections and respect for the constitutional
order and the rule of law.
The Chilean people deserve our praise and respect
for courageously reclaiming their proud history as one of the
world's oldest democracies. Healing the painful wounds of the
past, Chileans from across the political spectrum have rededicated
themselves to rebuilding representative institutions and the rule
of law. The United States will continue to work closely with the
people of Chile - as their friend and partner - to strengthen
the cause of democracy in Latin America and around the world.
A complete set of the released documents is available
for public review at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland,
and at the Department of State FOIA Reading Room. They also are
being released simultaneously in Chile. Copies of the documents
will be available on the Internet.
Also available on this website are copies of the September 2000
Hinchey Report on "CIA Activities in Chile" and the relevant 1975
Church Committee reports on Chile.
[end of document]
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