Office of the Historian

278. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the 40 Committee (Jessup) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1

Washington, December 13, 1971.

SUBJECT

  • Request for Funds for 16 January 1972 By-Elections in Chile

This is a 40 Committee proposal to provide [dollar amount not declassified] to support two good opposition candidates in a special election in Chile for two vacant congressional seats. Both Nachmanoff and I agree that this is in the current mold of doing what we can to keep Allende off balance.

All the other principals are on board, so we recommend a telephonic vote rather than a meeting.2 In this connection, I am attaching a note to you from Dave Packard dated 8 December (Tab B),3 a sort of swan song urging that the Committee keep after Chile. Packard has indicated that he will not be in the approval process after 10 December and has asked Laird what he would like to do in the interim. I think that we can take the tone of his letter as an endorsement for what is proposed.

There is a time factor in this proposal—the election taking place in 30 days—so I urge prompt attention to this matter.4

The candidates we are backing, [name not declassified] the Christian Democratic Party and [name not declassified] the National Party, are solid citizens and their opposition are no pushovers [1½ lines not declassified]. The elections will be close.

  1. Source: National Security Council, Nixon Intelligence Files, Subject Files, Chile, 1971–1972. Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only; Out of System. Sent for action. Attached is a December 10 memorandum to the 40 Committee explaining the proposal in detail. It is Document 93 in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. E–16, Documents on Chile, 1969–1973. Also attached is a December 14 memorandum from Jessup to Mitchell, in which Jessup assumed his approval, but requested Mitchell to telephone with his decision.↩
  2. On December 15, the 40 Committee approved the request by telephone. (Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, INR/IL Historical Files, 40 Committee, Jan–Jun 1972)↩
  3. Attached at Tab B is a December 8 memorandum to Kissinger, in which Packard urged “that we seek to apply every available means to preserve the democratic system in Chile” and that the 40 Committee “be alert to any opportunities or options that could further assist our objectives in Chile.”↩
  4. Haig initialed approval for Kissinger on December 15.↩