Office of the Historian

46. National Security Study Memorandum 971

Washington, July 24, 1970.

TO

  • The Secretary of State
  • The Secretary of Defense
  • The Director of Central Intelligence
  • The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

SUBJECT

  • Chile

The President has asked for an urgent review of U.S. policy and strategy in the event of an Allende victory in the Chilean Presidential elections. The study should cover the following points:

  • 1. What policies and goals is an Allende administration likely to espouse? What probable alternative courses are developments in Chile likely to take under an Allende government?
  • 2. What is the nature and degree of threat to U.S. interests of these alternatives, both in immediate terms and in terms of impact on our long-range goals and position?
  • 3. What options are open to the U.S. to meet these problems?

The paper should be prepared by an ad hoc group comprising representatives of the addressees and the NSC staff and should be chaired by the representative of the Department of State. Because of the sensitivity of the subject, knowledge of the paper and participation in its preparation should be kept on a strict need-to-know basis. Additional participation as may be required should be specifically approved by the chairman of the ad hoc group under these guidelines.

The paper should be submitted to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs no later than August 18, 1970.2

Henry A. Kissinger
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–047, Senior Review Group, Chile (97). Secret; Exdisl.↩
  2. The responses to NSSM 97 are Documents 13 and 14 in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. E–16, Documents on Chile, 1969–1973. See also Document 52.↩