Transcripts For CSPAN3 Alan McPherson Ghosts Of Sheridan Cir

CSPAN3 Alan McPherson Ghosts Of Sheridan Circle July 13, 2024

The assassination at all, even though it was his government that did it, but later on, he trumpeted the version of events from the pinochet regime, which is that theres no way his government could have done this. It must have been some leftist guerrillas trying to pin it on pinochet. It is important the residence is there because the residence it self now has a bust of Orlando Letelier to try to remember him also. Around the circle, we have these two memorials to this one man and of course, to Ronni Moffitt. Sheridan circle will be marked forever by this one event. Hello, everyone. We can hear everyone. Welcome to busboys and poets. My name is olivia. I am the book Events Coordinator and im very excited to welcome Alan Mcpherson for his book ghosts of Sheridan Circle. It was an event that i was not aware of, honestly, and im very excited to read about it in this book, and im excited for alan to speak about it and have conversations to speak about it. Here at busboys, we like to have conversations that others are not having, and this is one of them. I would like to give you an overview. If you have cell phones, please take photos but dont make the flash happen. We are filming tonight, as you can see, and that is distracting. We will have the book for sale. We have them or sale currently. If you want to, i employ you to look through it and have alan sign it. I implore you to look through it and have alan sign it. We have a wonderful server who will be here all night, so please take care of her as she will take care of you. I will now turn it on over to alan for the talk of ghosts of Sheridan Circle. Dr. Mcpherson thank you very much, olivia. Thank you to busboys and poets for hosting this. I want to thank my publisher for putting this together, the few institutions, also, who made this happen in washington. Im so happy to be presenting this in washington, which is literally the scene of this crime. The institute for policy studies is very important in letting me interview them and keep the memory of this book alive for 40plus years. Also, the embassy of chile was important. Let me begin with the first words from this book. These are the people talking. Isabel, i have a surprise for you. Have lunch with me. Today will be difficult. I have work. But you will love the surprise, Orlando Letelier insisted. Isabel letelier acceded. After all, her husband was a charmer. It was time for Orlando Letelier to go to work. He had been at a leftist think tank for years, using a platform that undermined the ironfisted dictator who had overthrown the government of president salvador in day salvador in day president salvador allende. As a private citizen now, he exposed pinochets human rights atrocities, incited boycotts, and discouraged investment. Two of his colleagues happen to ride with him that day. Michael and Ronni Moffitt, both 25, recently married. They waited while he showered and dressed and rushed out the door. Isabel barely had time to kiss him goodbye. Orlando took the wheel of his 1975 chevelle malibu classic. He opened michael opened the front passenger door for ronni and plopped himself in the backseat. In less than an hour, orlando and ronni would be dead. Michael would be traumatized for life. This is the actual car after the bombing. I never learned what the surprise was, isabel recalled when i interviewed her over 40 years after the event. To this day, the killing of Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt remains the only assassination of a foreign diplomat on u. S. Soil and also the only state sponsored assassination in washington. The leteliermoffitt assassinations constituted the most brazen act of International Terrorism ever committed in the United States. The only state sponsored such act and the only car bomb. The two decades long resolution of the case would hold implications for chile, the United States, terrorism, human rights, and the state of democracy everywhere. My book literally argues it was crucial in taking down the entire pinochet government, but today, i want to explore a subtheme of the book. Fascism on one side and human rights on the other that clash and outlive the capitalist communist ideological struggle of the cold war. These forces are still with us today, and leteliers assassination brought them into open conflict. On the cover, you have you have the car on the bottom, but on the top, you have Orlando Letelier on the right and Ronni Moffitt on the left. The order to assassinate letelier was not simply an overreaction by a communist regime, although it was that. It was also rooted in the fascism that lurked inside postwar political culture. In chile, that fascism partly came from germany. Southern chile in the 19th century attracted 30,000 settlers from the german states. A military mission from prussia resulted in the gray uniforms and goosestepping of the daunting chilean army. In the 20th century, the mostly fair skinned welltodo germans filled the ranks of far right parties. They cheered and marched when hiller came to power. The nazis of chile boasted 60,000 members, electing three to the national legislature. In 1938, they attempted a failed putsch in santiago. Throughout, not only did they adopt nazi tenants but also added their own. The tradition of catholicism, a rejection of empires, and the championing of latin american unity made this among the most potent totalitarianisms in latin america. Contrast, the men on the right, was the head of the secret police who gave the order to kill letelier. After world war ii, he admired spanish dictator francisco franco. When pinochet and his allies carried out their plan a colonel, contrary is no answer to no general, minister, or judge, only to pinochet. He dominated all other intelligence agencies. If 9000 300 employees could rate homes and jail suspects without charges, and its 20,000 to 30,000 informants spread fear throughout other chilean government agencies. Its logo featuring an iron glove, he was responsible for about 1200 of the 3200 excuse and xander pinochet. The association between he and fascism were legion. It was alleged that if employees engaged the use of rhone and ancient germanic alchemy and the celebration of solstices and equinoxes to revive naziism. Members addressed each other as pharaohs, priests, and slaves, denoting their status within the hierarchy. Contrary is even allied with former nazi Paul Schaefer of colony of dignity and for me. The u. S. Department of defense compared dena to hitlers gestapo. Franco supporters lined up on the avenue from the airport and gave the chileans motorcade the stiff armed fascist salute. In my book, i call contrary rest contrary rest contrares the hitlers of the andes. There and in other Detention Centers he would remain for a year, never charged with a crime, psychologically tortured and they until the venezuelan government obtained his freedom. For his relief, letelier was told in no uncertain words general pinochet will not and does not tolerate any activity against his government. Still, letelier ended up working against pinochet in washington. His work coincided with a golden age of human rights activism in the 1990s. More than 200 groups in the United States worked on human rights. Over 50 lobbied congress and about 15 concentrated on latin america. Civil rights icon became the First Assistant for democracy, human rights, and labor under the jimmy carter administration. Just a few months after the letelier assassination, mark schneider, who had worked for kennedy in massachusetts on several issues. In congress, representative don fraser chaired the first congressional hearings on human rights in 1970 three. Helping him were among others tom harkin, michael harrington, all democrats. On china, congresss greatest achievement was the 1975 harken amendment, which cut off aid to any government that grossly violated human rights. Unless the president determine such aid would directly benefit the needy. The following year, Teddy Kennedy directly targeted chile. One chilean magazine called kennedy the most angers for an adversary of the pinochet regime. Letelier, helped by ronni and michael moffitt, worked for one of the most influential human rights oak and a stations in the country. He talked with american universities, he lunched with senators. Angela davis once came to his house. Joan baez was his friend. He became a unifier for chilean exiles numbering in the hundreds of thousands worldwide. He also convinced dockworker federations to boycott the handling of chilean goods and therefore won the cancellation of a plan 62 Million Dollar Mining Investment in chile. These two things seem to have convinced pinochet to order leteliers assassination. From 1975 to 1983, contrary rest contreras and his allies Henry Kissinger became an expert. Letelierletelier one month before one month before letelier was killed, kissingers office prepared a report demonstrating washingtons deep concern over their plan for the assassination of subversives in prominent figures both within the National Border of certain southern countries and abroad. In other words, the state department was supposed to tell south american dictators not to kill people outside of south america, but for one month, none of the ambassadors who received this cable from washington did anything about it. Usually youre given an order, you do it. The ambassador to europe feared for his life if he wagged his finger at the generals. The envoy to chilly to chile feared pinochet might well take as an insult he was connected to any assassination plots. Five days before the letelier assassination, kissinger ordered no further action be taken on the matter. Back in chile in the same summer of 1976, contreras entrusted the hit on letelier, and american chilean explosive expert. This is Michael Townley with his wife. During the allende years, he worked with shock troops called fatherland and freedom. They received training in coding and code breaking, weapons handling, explosives, martial arts, nunchucks. Later, Paolo Rodriguez would regularly line of his troops, as he called them, and review them with his right arm crossed against his chest remember, these are teenagers, not soldiers. They wore black uniforms and white armbands indoor adorned with a swastikalike emblem. Hitlers brownshirts would have approved. Allende followers called fatherland and freedom a bunch of fascists. Turns out they were correct. In fall 1970, kissinger requested and received 38,000 for support of this fascist organization. Others in the group admitted receiving no funds and added that an extra 5,000 per month filtered in. Back to townley, the bomb maker. He embraced the rhetoric and the actions of fatherland and freedom and started making bombs for them. The masses are not ready to govern themselves, he said. Democracy leads only to government ruled by the herd. Power should be reserved by the few, the intellectuals. In the United States, townley connected with about five cubanamericans, also protofascists. They called themselves the Cuban Nationalist Movement, headquartered in a new jersey newly cuban iced cubanized by Fidel Castros revolution. Heres a picture of a few of them in their headquarters in new jersey along with their logo, which has the island of cuba with a number three, which means not communist, not capitalism, but a third way, which essentially meant violence against cuba. Like contreras, these cubanamericans had decided to kill opponents throughout the world. Between 1970 four and 1976, u. S. Authorities tied 202 major bombings in 22 countries to cuban exiles. One every five days on average and 113 of them in the United States. In 1970 four, cuban exiles accounted for 40 5 of all terrorist bombings on the planet in 1974. The Cuban Nationalist Movement motto cuba before all. Pamphlets outline and ideology of a capitalism similar to hitlers. One of these cubans once asked Michael Townley and his wife during a dinner, what do you think about the world jewish conspiracy . Remember, they are trying to fight communism. Townleys says, i beg your pardon, what . The jewish conspiracy, he repeats. It seems to me, she told him, you got sidetracked on purpose. Fidel castro is too difficult to target. Naturally, it is easier to fight the jews than the cubans. Still, these cubanamericans help townley build a car bomb and install it under leteliers car. When cuban drove behind him while another pushed the button on the detonator. For washington, the challenge the assassinated the challenge the assassination posed was enabling fascism to infiltrate the chilean government. Those such as Teddy Kennedy, who champion human rights, and the vast majority in the middle who needed the car bombing to prompt them to care enough. Early on, mainstream u. S. Observers tended towards absolving the chilean regime. The New York Times editor concluded it is hard to believe that even as hamhanded a regime as chiles would order the murder of an opponent as mr. Letelier in the United States. The National Security council admitted that right wing chileans are the obvious candidates and could be too obvious. Thankfully, the investigation was not up to them. It was the job of the fbi and attorney generals office. The amendment were anticommunist but also gifted technocrats, dedicated to solving the murder wherever it took them. For almost 18 months, the fbi had no solid lead on this case. For almost 18 months, the fbi had no solid lead on this case. It had heard of a mysterious gringo among chileans but had no name. Turns out it was Michael Townley. It had heard rumors from cubanamericans, a grand jury subpoena them, but they kept mum, and the investigation kept getting threats, just as orlando and isabel had before the assassination. On october 4, an unknown male called orlandos aunt. Talking to the fbi will not help you. Your legs will be spread in washington, d. C. , just like orlandos. In november, a Flight Attendant about to join her crew was standing at Kennedy Airport rifling through her purse for her keys. Suddenly, a man grabbed her arm and yanked her around. You tell your little friend keep his fucking nose out of our business or you wont be so pretty anymore. Boom boom. You know what i mean . If they can do this and get away with it under the nose of the cia and fbi, said president elect jimmy carter, then no president can govern. He was talking about the letelier assassination. On the one hand, such a brazen attack was unacceptable making the United States look unable to police its own borders. They made the cold war seem out of control. On the other hand, foreign policymakers were careful about pushing a cold war ally too hard. A u. S. Political officer in chile explained they are not against facial in government against a chilean government but against the abuse and terrorism performed in its name. It was offered up to regular people to pressure carter officials against the chileans. First to expel townley from chile, which prove success will, and second, expedite contreras, which proved a failure. Carter part of his determination to get to the bottom of the crime. Pinochet nodded and promised cooperation, but my book reveals how behind the scenes, the dictator orchestrated a coverup. Letelier and moffitt, therefore, being the widow and woodwork, were aghast. Moffitt asked at a press conference, if carter is serious about human rights, why doesnt he welcome isabel and me like he welcomes pinochet . Brezinski did not help at all, letelier told me. We could never get through to him, never. She remembered this in her late 80s. College and local newspapers cover her, as did local radio and television. This is the human rights network. When the right wing media in the u. S. Tried to smear orlando as a tool of fidel castro, isabel debunked their lives. The dam finally burst when in march 1978, investigators published photos of the two men whose name they ignored, but whom they accused of being involved. They have their passport photos but not the names. They just knew these men had come to washington during the assassination or at least before it. Within days, chileans identified townley and his friend, armando fernandez, as the two men from chile who were in the United States during the assassination. Was he a hippie, a jew . The americans saw no trace of a chilean manhunt for townley. They were certain that instead, chileans were prevaricating while hiding townley. There were also consummate professionals among the diplomats. U. S. Ambassador george landau, for instance, a man who had been meeting with the chilean foreign minister. He dropped all the diplomatic politics he had practiced throughout his career and threatened that if townley was not made to answer the u. S. Governments questions, all u. S. Activity with chile would be in danger. Friendly, i dont believe your people are trying very hard, landau said, which is a rare thing for an ambassador to say. Shortly after, the 15th floor of the building out of which he ruled, pinochets Political Team that, setting out its task keeping townley in chile. Suddenly, the french doors to the meeting room swung open, and in walked pinochet himself. The dictator rarely did rarely descended below his 22nd floor. Please continue, dont mind me, the strongman said to his advisers while he paced behind their chairs. Then, of course, he i

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