On Thu, Dec 4, 2025 at 11:02 AM National Security Archive <[email protected]> wrote:
> Special Senate Report and Public Hearing Exposed CIA Regime Change > Operations; Initiated Needed Debate Over Role of Covert Operations in a > Democracy. Archive Posts White House Documents on Ford Administration > Efforts to Block Revelations of CIA Covert Operations in > Chile. > > > > > > > > Special Senate Report and Public Hearing Exposed CIA Regime Change > Operations; Initiated Needed Debate Over Role of Covert Operations in a > Democracy Archive Posts White House Documents on Ford Administration > Efforts to Block Revelations of CIA Covert Operations in Chile > > *Washington, D.C., December 4, 2025* - Fifty years ago today, Senator > Frank Church convened the first public congressional hearing ever held on > CIA covert operations to overthrow a foreign government, focusing on the > case of Chile. His Senate Select Committee was taking this “unusual step,” > Church explained, “because the committee believes the American people must > know and be able to judge what was undertaken by their government in Chile. > The nature and extent of the American role in the overthrow of a > democratically elected Chilean government,” noted the Idaho Democrat, “are > matters for deep and continuing public concern. This record must be set > straight.” > > Simultaneously, Church’s Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental > Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities released its > groundbreaking and still relevant report, “Covert Action in Chile, > 1963-1973.” Based on access to Top Secret CIA operational records, the > unprecedented 62-page case study revealed that “covert United States > involvement in Chile in the decade between 1963 and 1973 was extensive and > continuous,” with the intent of blocking Socialist leader Salvador Allende > from being elected president and, after he was elected, destabilizing his > ability to govern. In considering future guidelines for covert operations, > the report concluded that, “Given the costs of covert action, it should be > resorted to only to counter severe threats to the national security of the > United States. It is far from clear that that was the case in Chile.” > > The release of the report during the unprecedented two-day hearing on > covert operations in Chile “established a historic marker in congressional > efforts to hold the CIA accountable to the principles and values of the > American public,” according to Archive analyst Peter Kornbluh. > > On the 50th anniversary of the hearing and the release of the report, the > National Security Archive is posting a selection of previously declassified > documents that record the efforts of the Ford administration to obstruct > the Church Committee investigation and prevent an open hearing on the CIA’s > role in overthrowing the Allende government. The congressional efforts 50 > years ago fostered a full debate over the propriety of clandestine regime > change efforts, and the committee’s recommendations to tightly restrict > such activities remain relevant today, as President Trump has authorized > the CIA to engage in covert operations in Venezuela with the goal of > deposing the government of Nicolas Maduro. > > > https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence/2025-12-04/covert-action-chile-significance-church-committee-report-50 > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39595): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39595 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116617593/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
