- Info
Chile Declassification Project
U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman
Press Statement
Press Statement by James B. Foley, Deputy Spokesman
June 30, 1999
Today the Department of State, the Central Intelligence Agency, the
Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and the National Archives are releasing newly
declassified and other documents related to events in Chile from
1973-78. These documents are part of a voluntary review of U.S.
Government files related to human rights abuses, terrorism, and other
acts of political violence prior to and during the Pinochet era in
Chile. National Security Council staff are coordinating this
interagency effort on behalf of the President.
Virtually all of the documents in the initial release cover the period
from 1973-78, which corresponds to the period of the most flagrant
human rights abuses in Chile. The process of review continues, and
additional documents from 1973-78 will be released later this year,
along with documents dated 1968-1973. In a subsequent phase, agencies
will review and release documents dated 1979-91.
This initial release consists of over 5,800 documents,
including approximately 5,000 from the Department of State, 490 from
the CIA, 200 from the National Archives, 100 from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and 60 from the Department of Defense. A limited number
of documents have not been released at this time, primarily because
they relate to an ongoing Justice Department investigation of the
murder of Ronni Moffitt and Orlando Letelier. Information also has been
withheld from some of the released documents to protect the privacy of
individuals, sensitive law enforcement information, and intelligence
sources and methods, or to prevent serious harm to ongoing diplomatic
activities of the United States.
A complete set of the released documents is available for
public review at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. They
also are being released simultaneously in Chile. Documents being
released by the Department of State are accessible on the internet at http://foia.state.gov. Documents released by other agencies will also be available at that internet address by the middle of July.
Posted: May 13, 2007 02:14 AM
Last Updated: May 13, 2007 02:14 AM
Last Reviewed: May 13, 2007 02:14 AM