News

USIS Washington File

08 October 1999

Text: U.S. Releases Government Files on Pinochet Era in Chile

(Review process for declassification continues, says White House)
(450)

U.S. agencies are releasing newly declassified files related to events
in Chile from 1968-1978, as part of a review of government documents
dealing with human rights and other abuses during the Pinochet era,
the White House announced October 8.

More than 1,100 documents are being released, including 350 from the
Department of State, 160 from the Central Intelligence Agency, and 430
from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Copies of the documents will be available on the Internet at
http://foia.state.gov

Following is the White House announcement:

(begin text)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Ottawa, Canada)

October 8, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

Today the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Central
Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the
National Archives and Records Administration are releasing newly
declassified and other documents related to events in Chile from
1968-1978. 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 are coordinating this
interagency effort on behalf of the President.

The process of review continues, and a final release of documents from
1968 through the final years of Pinochet's rule will take place early
next year. Agencies made an initial release of approximately 5,800
documents on June 30, concentrating on the period from 1973-1978,
which corresponds to the period of the most flagrant human rights
abuses in Chile. The focus for this second release was on documents
dated from 1968-1973, although many relate to the period 1973-1978.

This second release consists of over 1,100 documents, including
approximately 350 from the Department of State, 60 from the Department
of Defense, 160 from the Central Intelligence Agency, 430 from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and 115 from the National Archives.
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.

A complete set of the released documents is available for public
review at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. They also
are being released simultaneously in Chile. Copies of the documents
will be available on the internet at http://foia.state.gov. Also
available at this website is a copy of a descriptive guide to
previously released State Department and other agency records in the
National Archives relating to Chile during this period.

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