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

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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.