94. Memorandum for the Record1
SUBJECT
- Genesis of Project FUBELT
1. On this date the Director called a meeting in connection with the Chilean situation. Present in addition to the Director were General Cushman, DDCI; Col. White, ExDir-Compt; Thomas Karamessines, DDP; Cord Meyer, ADDP; William V. Broe, Chief WH Division; [name not declassified], Deputy Chief, WH Division, [2 names not declassified] Chief, Covert Action, WH Division; [name not declassified] Chief, WH/4.
2. The Director told the group that President Nixon had decided that an Allende regime in Chile was not acceptable to the United States. The President asked the Agency to prevent Allende from coming to power or to unseat him. The President authorized ten million dollars for this purpose, if needed. Further, The Agency is to carry out this mission without coordination with the Departments of State or Defense.
3. During the meeting it was decided that Mr. Thomas Karamessines, DDP, would have overall responsibility for this project. He would be assisted by a special task force set up for this purpose in the Western Hemisphere Division.2 The Chief of the task force would be Mr. David Phillips, [2 lines not declassified].
4. Col. White was asked by the Director to make all necessary support arrangements in connection with the project.
5. The Director said he had been asked by Dr. Henry Kissinger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, to meet with him on Friday, 18 September to give him the Agency’s views on how this mission could be accomplished.
- Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Job 79M01476A, File 010175–300475. Secret; Sensitive; Eyes Only. Drafted by Broe.↩
- The records of the task force that oversaw the operation in Chile, commonly referred to as “Track II”, are in Central Intelligence Agency, Job 80–00012A. Records from this collection were made available to Department of State historians for review, but copies were not provided for inclusion in this volume.↩
- Printed from a copy that indicates Broe signed the original.↩