230. Telegram From the Embassy in Chile to the Department of State1
Subject: Letelier/Moffitt Case: General Sinclair’s Request [1 line not declassified]
Ref: (A) State 189520,2 (B) Santiago 50863
[Page 680]1. Confidential Entire Text.
2. Foreign Minister Cubillos called me morning of July 27 to discuss further the manner of handling the Sinclair request.4 He has spoken with Mena but not with Sinclair, whom he does not know well. According to Mena, there are no deeper purposes in Sinclair’s inquiry than a desire to get on with the investigation. Cubillos suggested a three-pronged response to the Sinclair request which he thought would demonstrate our desire to cooperate with the investigation. The three points were:
(A) With respect to [less than 1 line not declassified] personnel in Chile, remind General Sinclair that a USG official is declared with the Chilean Government and suggest that he get in touch with appropriate office of the GOC for the information needed.
(B) Remind Sinclair of the existence of an affidavit from General Walters among the extradition papers5 and offer to arrange an interview between General Sinclair and General Walters if the former feels this would be desirable.
(C) Offer General Sinclair an affidavit by the Director of CIA which would refute the charges made by Contreras regarding CIA collaboration in sending Chileans to the U.S. to see the then Director Walters (as outlined in ref a.)6
3. I believe that such a response, as transformed below into a draft reply to the original note, strikes a happy balance between necessary restraint in discussing a sensitive subject and positive encouragement of and collaboration with an important ongoing local investigation of the Letelier/Moffitt affair.
4. Following is text of operational portion of proposed Embassy not to GOC.
[Page 681]“. . . . and has the honor to refer to the Ministry’s NOE number 09724 of July 5, 1979, transmitting a request from Brigadier General Santiago Sinclair.
In his request, General Sinclair asked for “Information regarding the identity of the people who in 1976, during the months June, July and August approximately, belonged to or worked for an organization that might correspond to ’CIA-Chile’.” The Embassy wishes to advise the ministry that any such persons would be declared to the appropriate entity within the Chilean Government, and the embassy further suggests that General Sinclair obtain the information he seeks from that Chilean source. The Embassy also wishes to bring to General Sinclair’s attention the existence of an affidavit from General Vernon Walters, Acting Director of CIA at the time in question, which forms part of the evidence submitted by the United States Government in the extradition case brought against General Contreras, et al. This affidavit may contain information of interest to General Sinclair. The Department of State is also prepared to arrange an interview between General Sinclair and General Walters if the former believes this would be helpful. Finally, if it would serve the purposes of General Sinclair’s investigation, the Director of CIA would be prepared to offer an affidavit refuting the charges made by General Contreras regarding CIA collaboration in sending Chileans to the U.S. to see the then Director, General Walters.”
5. I would appreciate prompt notification that this formula for response to General Sinclair is acceptable to the Department.7
- Source: National Archives, RG59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790343-0320. Confidential; Immediate; Stadis; Exdis; Special Encryption.↩
- Dated July 21. The Department described the contents of a potential affidavit by the CIA Director, which “would not confirm or comment on Sinclair’s basic question about possible CIA operations in Chile. Affidavit, however, would refute Contreras’ charges.” (Department of State, INR/IL Historical Files, Roger Channel, Santiago 1963–79)↩
- Dated July 23. Landau reported on his July 23 meeting with Cubillos, during which they discussed how the USG could best respond to Sinclair’s request for information regarding CIA presence in Chile in 1976. (Department of State, INR/IL Historical Files, Roger Channel, Santiago 1963–79)↩
- In telegram 4695 from Santiago, July 6, Landau reported that Sinclair had “requested by note the names of CIA personnel in Santiago in mid-1976. The alleged involvement of the local station is important to Contreras’ whole defense: that the CIA orchestrated the whole operation. It is also tactically important that we not be seen as impeding the Chilean investigation.” Landau continued: “It may be that for legal reasons Sinclair will want something more definitive in writing; I would suggest to Cubillos that he check with Sinclair on that score, if receiving the name orally from me is not good enough, the GOC should tell us precisely what written communication would meet its needs and how such a document would be kept secret.” (National Archives, RG59, Central Foreign Policy File, D790307-0703)↩
- See footnote 6, Document 222.↩
- See footnote 2. In a July 12 memorandum to Turner, Silver recommended that “any response” to the request should “come from Headquarters officials or from General Walters.” (Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81M00919R, Box 13, Folder 30: C-356 Chile [1979])↩
- In telegram 200774 to Santiago, August 2, the Department approved the following text of a note to the GOC: “. . . And has the honor to refer to the Ministry’s note number 09724 of July 5, 1979, transmitting a request from Brigadier General Santiago Sinclair. The Embassy wishes to advise the Ministry that such person would have been declared to the appropriate entity within the Chilean Government. The Embassy further suggests that General Sinclair obtain the information he seeks from that Chilean source. The Embassy also wishes to bring to General Sinclair’s attention the existence of an affidavit from General Vernon Walters, Acting Director of CIA at the time in question, which forms part of the evidence submitted by the United States Government in the extradition case brought against General Contreras, et al. This affidavit may contain information of interest to General Sinclair. In addition, should General Sinclair wish to interview General Walters, the State Department would undertake to contact General Walters to seek to arrange such an interview. Finally, if it would serve the purposes of General Sinclair’s investigation, the Director of CIA would be prepared to offer an affidavit refuting the charges made by General Contreras regarding CIA collaboration in sending Chileans to the US to see the then Director, General Walters.” (Department of State, INR/IL Historical Files, Roger Channel, Santiago 1963–79)↩