Project FUBELT
Encyclopedia
Project FUBELT is the code name
for the secret Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) operations that were to prevent Salvador Allende
rise to power before his confirmation, and promote a military coup in Chile.
The highlights of Project FUBELT are cited in declassified U.S. government
documents released by the National Security Archive
on September 11, 1998, 25 years after the coup, as well as in papers uncovered by a 1975 congressional
inquiry.
CIA memoranda
and reports on Project FUBELT include meetings between United States Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger
and CIA officials, CIA cables to its Santiago station, and summaries of secret action in 1970 — detailing decisions and operations to undermine the election of Salvador Allende
in September 1970 and promote a military coup.
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
for the secret Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) operations that were to prevent Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
rise to power before his confirmation, and promote a military coup in Chile.
The highlights of Project FUBELT are cited in declassified U.S. government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
documents released by the National Security Archive
National Security Archive
The National Security Archive is a 501 non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located in the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1985 by Scott Armstrong, it archives and publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of US...
on September 11, 1998, 25 years after the coup, as well as in papers uncovered by a 1975 congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
inquiry.
CIA memoranda
Memorandum
A memorandum is from the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered ..."...
and reports on Project FUBELT include meetings between United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
and CIA officials, CIA cables to its Santiago station, and summaries of secret action in 1970 — detailing decisions and operations to undermine the election of Salvador Allende
Chilean presidential election, 1970
A presidential election was held in Chile on 4 September 1970. A narrow plurality was secured by Salvador Allende, the candidate of the Popular Unity coalition of leftist parties...
in September 1970 and promote a military coup.
Revelations from declassified documents
Among the revelations in the formerly secret documents were the following:- Handwritten notes, taken by CIA director Richard HelmsRichard HelmsRichard McGarrah Helms was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1966 to 1973. He was the only director to have been convicted of lying to the United States Congress over Central Intelligence Agency undercover activities. In 1977, he was sentenced to the maximum fine and received a suspended...
, record the orders of President Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, to foster a coup in Chile - In the first meeting between Helms and high agency officials on the secret operations codenamed "FUBELT", a special task force under the supervision of CIA Deputy Director for PlansDirector of the National Clandestine ServiceThe Director of the National Clandestine Service is a senior United States government official in the U.S...
, Thomas KaramessinesThomas KaramessinesThomas H. Karamessines was the Deputy Director for Plans of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency from July 31, 1967 until February 27, 1973. Karamessines was actively involved in the Agency's Project FUBELT to undermine the government of Chilean president Salvador Allende....
, is established, headed by veteran agent David Atlee PhillipsDavid Atlee PhillipsDavid Atlee Phillips was a Central Intelligence Agency officer for 25 years, one of a handful of people to receive the Career Intelligence Medal. He rose to become the CIA's chief of all operations in the Western hemisphere...
. The memorandum notes that the CIA must prepare an action plan for National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger within 48 hours. - Henry Kissinger, Thomas Karamessines and Alexander HaigAlexander HaigAlexander Meigs Haig, Jr. was a United States Army general who served as the United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford...
(military assistant to Henry Kissinger), in a meeting on October 15, 1970, discuss promoting a coup in Chile, known as "Track II" of covert operations. Kissinger orders the CIA to "continue keeping the pressure on every Allende weak spot in sight. - In a secret cable, Thomas Karamessines conveyed Kissinger's orders to CIA station chief in Santiago, Henry HecksherHenry HecksherHenry Hecksher was a career United States intelligence officer who served in both the OSS and CIA.Hecksher was born in Hamburg, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1934. He joined the United States Army, achieving the rank of captain...
: "It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup." - The CIA ran a series of secret operations intended to push President Eduardo Frei MontalvaEduardo Frei MontalvaEduardo Frei Montalva was a Chilean political leader of world stature. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party, senator, President of the Senate, and president of Chile from 1964 to 1970...
to support "a military coup which would prevent Allende from taking office on 3 November." - After Salvador Allende's election, the United States considered trying to get Chile expelled from the Organization of American StatesOrganization of American StatesThe Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
. - Embassy officers and the State DepartmentUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
Policy Planning officePolicy Planning StaffThe Policy Planning Staff is the chief strategic arm of the United States Department of State. It was created in 1947 by renowned Foreign Service Officer George F...
called for the cutting off of economic and military assistance to Pinochet's government on human rights grounds, but were overruled by the Ambassador and officials of The PentagonThe PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
and Treasury DepartmentUnited States Department of the TreasuryThe Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
.