Chile Caravan of Death: Eight guilty of murder

[Judi Lynn]

23 December 2013 Last updated at 15:12 ET
Chile Caravan of Death: Eight guilty of murder

A judge in Chile has found eight former members of the military guilty of murdering political opponents during the rule of Gen Augusto Pinochet.

The accused were part of the Caravan of Death, a military operation thought to have killed almost 100 opponents of the 1973 military coup.

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The Caravan of Death was a "delegation" of military men sent to Chile's provincial towns by Gen Pinochet, the leader of the 1973 coup.

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The Caravan of Death was a "delegation" of military men sent to Chile's provincial towns by Gen Pinochet, the leader of the 1973 coup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25499373

[Judi Lynn]

1. Memory jogger regarding the force behind this coup, and whence it came:

Wikipedia:
United States intervention in Chile

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Track II

Main article: Project FUBELT

The CIA had also drawn up a second plan, Track II. The agency would find military officers willing to support a coup and provide them with support. They could then call new elections in which Allende could be defeated.

In September 1970, President Nixon found that an Allende government in Chile would not be acceptable and authorized $10 million to stop Allende from coming to power or unseat him. As part of the Track II initiative, the CIA used false flag operatives to approach Chilean military officers, to encourage them to carry out a coup. A first step to overthrowing Allende required removing General René Schneider, the army chief commander. Schneider was a constitutionalist and would oppose a coup d'etat. To assist in the planned kidnapping of Schneider, the CIA provided "$50,000 cash, three submachine guns, and a satchel of tear gas, all approved at headquarters...":361 The submachine guns were delivered by diplomatic pouch.

A group was formed, led by a retired general, General Roberto Viaux. Viaux was considered unstable by the U.S. and had been discouraged from attempting a coup alone. The CIA encouraged him to join forces with an active duty general, General Camilo Valenzuela, who had also been approached by CIA operatives. They were joined by an Admiral, Hugo Tirado, who had been forced into retirement after the Tacnazo insurrection. On October 22, Viaux went ahead with a plan to kidnap General René Schneider. Schneider drew a handgun to protect himself from his attackers, who shot him in four vital areas. He died in Santiago's military hospital three days later. This attempted kidnapping and death Schneider shocked the public and increased support for the Chilean Constitution.

A CIA and White House cover-up obscured American involvement, despite Congressional investigative efforts.:100 The Church Committee, which investigated U.S. involvement in Chile during this period, determined that the weapons used in the debacle "were, in all probability, not those supplied by the CIA to the conspirators."

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_Chile