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27-474: Track II can refer to: Project FUBELT – a CIA operation to oust Chilean President-elect Salvador Allende that was also known as Track II Track II diplomacy – an informal diplomatic process conducted by non-state actors Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Track II . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

54-528: A coup, and Viaux also was convicted of kidnapping. The lawsuit asserted that the CIA had aided both groups, but the charges were deemed not-satisfactorily-proven (despite evidence of the CIA sponsoring the kidnap-turned-murder with tens of thousands of dollars and submachine guns). Peter Kornbluh , director of the National Security Archive's Chile Documentation Project, asserts that CIA documents show "Viaux

81-612: A coup. This incident and his death provoked national outrage, and caused the citizens and the military to rally behind the just-elected Allende, who was ratified by the Chilean Congress on October 24. It also helped to ensure an orderly transfer of power to Allende. Military courts in Chile found that Schneider's death was caused by two military groups, one led by Viaux and the other by General Camilo Valenzuela . Viaux and Valenzuela were eventually convicted of charges of conspiring to cause

108-406: A group of Chilean officers led by General Camilo Valenzuela with "sterile" weapons for the operation which was to be blamed on Allende supporters. On October 16, 1970, based on an anonymous tip on Schneider's whereabouts, the first group attempted to kidnap him from his home. The tip turned out to be false as he had been on vacation since two days earlier and didn't return till the next day. On

135-511: A more forceful reaction by the US. Kissinger justifies this by claiming that Allende will try to swindle the US, saying that Allende wants to "...Be internationally respectable, move cautiously and pragmatically, avoid immediate confrontation with [the US], move slowly in formalizing relations with Cuba and other socialist countries...". Kissinger is also quoted telling Nixon, "The election of Allende poses one of

162-449: A sledgehammer, broke the rear window and then fired at General Schneider, striking him in the region of the spleen, in the left shoulder, and in the left wrist." He was rushed to a military hospital, but the wounds proved fatal and he died three days later, on October 25. The attempt to kidnap him was because Schneider was the army Commander-in-Chief and considered a constitutionalist, which in practical terms meant that he would not support

189-473: A suit against Henry Kissinger , accusing him of collaborating with Viaux in arranging for Schneider's murder. While declassified documents show the CIA, displeased with the socialist victory, had explored the idea of supporting Viaux in a coup attempt, they also show that the agency decided on tracking down other members of the Chilean military, deciding that a Viaux coup would fail. Nevertheless, Viaux, acting on

216-630: The Cold War and after the Cuban Revolution , then US president Richard Nixon was worried that Chile would become another communist link in Latin America. He authorized the CIA to involve itself in the Chilean national election of 1970. There were two plans in this involvement, Track I and Track II. After the circumstantial failure of Track I, Project FUBELT, being Track II, was pursued. The operation itself

243-817: The National Security Archive on September 11, 1998, 25 years after the coup, as well as in papers uncovered by a 1975 congressional inquiry. Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at the National Security Archive and the director of the Chile Documentation Project, reveals in his book The Pinochet File the participation of the US in fomenting the military coup in Chile in the covert CIA Project FUBELT. CIA memoranda and reports on Project FUBELT include meetings between United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and CIA officials, CIA cables to its Santiago station, and summaries of secret action in 1970, detailing decisions and operations to undermine

270-547: The election of Salvador Allende in September 1970 and to promote a military coup. In November 1970, after the failure of the operation with the killing of general René Schneider , the US National Security Council issued National Security Decision Memorandum 93 , which replaced FUBELT. The US was particularly interested in the election of Salvador Allende because of his Marxist ideologies. Taking place during

297-402: The 1970 Chilean presidential election, a plot to kidnap Schneider was developed. "Neutralizing" Schneider became a key prerequisite for a military coup; he opposed any intervention by the armed forces to block Allende's constitutional election. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who considered Schneider "a major stumbling block for military officers seeking to carry out a coup," supplied

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324-505: The CIA began to plan economic, political, and psychological warfare tactics to create a climate in which a coup would thrive. Then commander in chief, Gen. René Schneider , stood in the way of this operation because he was a constitutionalist and thus did not support a coup to overthrow Allende. As part of the plan to dispel any obstacles by Schneider, the CIA hired retired General Robert Viaux, active General Camilo Valenzuela , and Admiral Hugo Tirado to kidnap René Schneider. This kidnapping

351-568: The advice of the CIA, teamed up with other coup plotters. CIA documents show unwavering support for Viaux's co-conspirator, Camilo Valenzuela , and also show a $ 50,000 payment to the kidnap team Viaux had hired. Documents written at the time of the assault on Schneider describe it as part of the "Valenzuela group coup plan." On October 15, 1970 Kissinger allegedly told U.S. President Richard Nixon that he had "turned off" plans to support Viaux, explaining that "Nothing could be worse than an abortive coup." The CIA claimed that no such "stand-down" order

378-456: The army in 1929. After a brilliant career, he was named Commander-in-Chief on October 27, 1969, by President Eduardo Frei Montalva , as a result of the Tacna agreement . Schneider had expressed firm opposition to the idea of preventing Salvador Allende 's inauguration by means of a coup d'état ; as a constitutionalist , he wished to continue the Chilean military's long apolitical history. After

405-547: The assassination of Schneider, the three hired to go through with the coup backed out. Two of three of these individuals were arrested in conspiracy, and the other, Hugo Tirado, was paid $ 35,000. After the failure of Project FUBELT to create a coup before the election of Allende, the US State Department suggested that the US should accept Allende's election and work toward his defeat in the 1976 election. Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger , instead encouraged

432-423: The condition that they made another attempt. On October 22, 1970, the coup-plotters again attempted to kidnap Schneider. His official car was ambushed at a street intersection in the capital city of Santiago . Schneider drew a gun to defend himself, and was shot point-blank several times. According to a report by the Chilean military police, "five individuals, one of who, making use of a blunt instrument similar to

459-643: The evening of October 19, 1970, a second group of coup-plotters loyal to General Roberto Viaux , equipped with tear gas grenades attempted to grab Schneider as he left an official dinner. The attempt failed because he left in a private car and not the expected official vehicle. The failure produced an extremely significant cable from CIA headquarters in Washington to the local station, asking for urgent action because "Headquarters must respond during morning 20 October to queries from high levels." Payments of $ 50,000 each to Viaux and his chief associate were then authorised on

486-461: The law of every law-bound country (including the United States), a crime committed in the pursuit of a kidnapping is thereby aggravated, not mitigated. You may not say, with a corpse at your feet, 'I was only trying to kidnap him.'" The lawsuit against Kissinger was eventually dismissed in the federal district court; the dismissal was subsequently upheld by the D.C. Court of Appeals. A petition for

513-461: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Track_II&oldid=1138506818 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Project FUBELT The highlights of Project FUBELT are cited in declassified US government documents released by

540-535: The most serious challenges ever faced in this hemisphere, and your decision as to what to do may be the most historic and difficult foreign policy decision you will have to make this year". In response to Kissinger's forceful approach to dealing with Allende post-Track II failure, the US government went ahead with the 'Covert Operation Program for Chile,' which was a series of political and psychological warfare tactics aimed at creating disdain and opposition for Allende. The five points of this plan were as follows: Among

567-685: The revelations in the formerly secret documents were the following: Many of the CIA documents recounting the events of this operation were released on 11 September 1998. Following this, on 10 September 2001, the relatives of assassinated general René Schneider filed a suit in the Federal Court of Washington DC, accusing Henry Kissinger of orchestrating the assassination of Schneider. 38°57′06″N 77°08′48″W  /  38.95167°N 77.14667°W  / 38.95167; -77.14667 Ren%C3%A9 Schneider René Schneider Chereau ( / ˈ ʃ n aɪ d ər / ; December 31, 1913 – October 25, 1970)

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594-595: Was a Chilean military official who served as commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army at the time of the 1970 Chilean presidential election , when he was assassinated during a botched kidnapping attempt. He coined the doctrine of military-political mutual exclusivity that became known as the Schneider Doctrine . He was born in Concepción, Chile , as a descendant of ethnic German and French immigrants, and joined

621-400: Was aimed at creating a 'coup-climate' in which a coup would best take place. This, as ordered by Richard Nixon, authorized $ 10 million to the CIA to conduct this operation. To this day, this is the only record in US history of a US president ordering the overthrow of a democratically elected leader in a foreign country. Several days after Nixon's 15 September directive to create a coup in Chile,

648-404: Was ever received. The U.S. government claims it did not intend for Schneider to be murdered, only kidnapped. When Alexander Haig , Kissinger's aide, was asked "is kidnapping not a crime?" he replied "that depends." Such an argument would carry no weight in any court of law. Christopher Hitchens noted that Chilean authorities treated the crime as a straightforward murder. He argued that, "under

675-464: Was not acting independently or unilaterally, but clearly as a co-conspirator with Valenzuela..." On October 26, 1970, President Eduardo Frei Montalva named General Carlos Prats as Commander-in-Chief to replace Schneider. This happened at the same time that $ 35,000 was given by the CIA to the kidnappers "to keep the prior contact secret, maintain the goodwill of the group, and for humanitarian reasons." On September 10, 2001 Schneider's family filed

702-415: Was part of a longer plan by the CIA which includes: Attached to this plan was a request for $ 50,000 to pay the three individuals who were going to kidnap Schneider. It is worth noting that there was no plan by the CIA to conduct a subsequent democratic election after this plan took place. On October 22, the group of CIA-hired individuals attempted to kidnap the general, but instead ended up shooting him. He

729-490: Was taken to the military hospital in Santiago where he succumbed to his wounds three days later. The Chilean people were shocked by the attempted kidnapping and subsequent killing of General Schneider. This was used as a motivating force for the Chilean public to overwhelmingly support Chilean constitutionalism, and thus support the election of Allende on 3 November 1970. In the face of overwhelming discontent from Chileans for

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