Case 157 - Covert Action in Chile, 1970-1973

by ISD - Georgetown University
$ 4.50

Treverton, Gregory F.

This case study, created for the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, addresses the practical and ethical questions that underlie U.S. decisions about intervening secretly in the politics of foreign countries. It focuses on the 1970 presidential election in Chile and the internal debate that led the Nixon administration to work behind the scenes to defeat the candidacy of Salvador Allende, a self-proclaimed Marxist. When Allende was elected, Washington stepped up efforts to cripple his government, which at least indirectly paved the way for General Augusto Pinochet’s September 1973 military coup.