US State Department and CIA Declassification of Chile Coup Documents (August 2023)

SUMMARY

In August 2023, the U.S. State Department and the CIA declassified two documents related to the 1973 military coup in Chile, which had previously been withheld from public view [1]. The declassification was reported to shed further light on U.S. involvement in the events surrounding the coup [1]. The specific contents of these two documents, however, have not been widely detailed in the provided sources, leaving an open question regarding their direct illumination of U.S. actions. While the National Declassification Center (NDC) announced broader declassification releases in July and October 2023, these announcements referred to millions of pages of records from various agencies and did not specifically identify the two Chile-related documents mentioned by the LA Times [2, 3]. Researchers often access declassified materials through archives like the Digital National Security Archive or The Black Vault [4, 5].

CLAIMS

1. SINGLE-SOURCECONF 0.90

   The U.S. State Department and CIA declassified two specific documents related to the 1973 military coup in Chile in August 2023.

   — attributed to: Los Angeles Times

   • https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-08-29/us-releases-chile-coup-documents
2. SINGLE-SOURCECONF 0.80

   These two declassified documents shed light on U.S. involvement in the 1973 military coup in Chile.

   — attributed to: Los Angeles Times

   • https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-08-29/us-releases-chile-coup-documents
3. VERIFIEDCONF 1.00

   The National Declassification Center (NDC) released listings of millions of pages of declassified records from various agencies between April and September 2023.

   — attributed to: National Declassification Center (NDC) via declassification.blogs.archives.gov

   • https://declassification.blogs.archives.gov/2023/10/06/new-records-released-2023-fourth-quarter-release-lists/
   • https://declassification.blogs.archives.gov/2023/08/09/new-records-released-2023-third-quarter-release-list/

TIMELINE

• 1973Military coup occurs in Chile, overthrowing President Salvador Allende
• 2023-07-31National Declassification Center releases listing of 217 declassification projects (over two million pages) completed between April 4 and July 31, 2023. [src]
• 2023-08U.S. State Department and CIA declassify two documents related to the 1973 Chile coup. [src]
• 2023-10-04National Declassification Center releases listing of 99 declassification projects (over two million pages) completed between August 1 and September 30, 2023. [src]

ENTITIES

• ORG U.S. State Department — Government agency involved in declassification
• ORG CIA — Government agency involved in declassification and alleged historical involvement in Chile coup
• PLACE Chile — Location of the 1973 military coup
• EVENT 1973 Military Coup in Chile — Historical event subject of declassified documents
• ORG National Declassification Center (NDC) — Entity responsible for coordinating declassification projects

OPEN QUESTIONS — PENDING LEADS

• What are the specific titles and document numbers of the two Chile-related documents declassified by the State Department and CIA in August 2023?
• What specific details within the August 2023 declassified documents illuminate or alter the understanding of U.S. involvement in the 1973 Chile coup?
• Are full, unredacted versions of these specific two documents publicly available, and if so, where (e.g., National Archives, CIA Reading Room, Digital National Security Archive)?
• Did the August 2023 declassification of the Chile documents result from a specific Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, a review program, or an executive order?
• Are there any analyses or reports from historians or investigative journalists discussing the significance of the specific content of these two declassified documents?

EVIDENCE — CAPTURED SOURCES

1. [WEB] https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-08-29/us-releases-chile-coup-documents

   The State Department with the CIA declassified two documents that had been withheld from public view that shed light on the 1973 military coup in Chile.

2. [WEB] https://declassification.blogs.archives.gov/2023/10/06/new-records-released-2023-fourth-quarter-release-lists/ [archived]

   On October 4, 2023, the National Declassification Center (NDC) released a listing of 99 declassification projects that consists of over two million pages that completed declassification processing between August 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023. These records are now available …

3. [WEB] https://declassification.blogs.archives.gov/2023/08/09/new-records-released-2023-third-quarter-release-list/ [archived]

   On July 31, 2023, the National Declassification Center (NDC) released a listing of 217 declassification projects that consists of over two million pages that completed declassification processing between April 4, 2023 through July 31, 2023. These records are now available for res…

4. [WEB] https://guides.loc.gov/finding-government-documents/declassified-documents [archived]

   The Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) contains the most comprehensive set of declassified government documents available. Each of these meticulously indexed collections is compiled by top scholars and experts and exhaustively covers the most critical world events, countrie…

5. [WEB] https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/ [archived]

   The archive began in 1996 when, at just 15 years old, John Greenewald, Jr. started filing FOIA requests in pursuit of answers hidden within government files. What began as a personal effort to uncover information evolved into a decades-long mission dedicated to government transpa…

6. [WEB] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/historical-collections [archived]

   The Historical Review Program coordinates the review of the documents with CIA components and other US Government entities before final declassification action is taken and the documents are transferred to the National Archives. Our Historical Collections are listed below. For mo…

7. [WEB] https://guides.library.yale.edu/declassified [archived]

   U.S. Declassified Documents Online, formerly known as Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS) provides full-text declassified documents from U.S. government agencies, including the CIA, FBI, White House, State Department, and others.

8. [WEB] https://research.lib.buffalo.edu/fedgov/declassified

   The U.S. Federal Governments' process of classifying, safeguarding and declassifying documents is outlined in Executive Order 13526. For additional information on declassified documents, visit NARA Declassification. For FOIA details, please visit NARA's FOIA page.

9. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1aulya3/what_are_the_craziest_declassified_cia_documents/ [archived]

   The CIA was ordered by Henry Kissinger to collaborate with Howard Hughes to set up a flase flag deep-sea mining concern, which involved the construction of a huge purpose-built ship called the USNS Hughes Glomar Explorer.

10. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/DeclassifiedCIA/ [archived]

    A place to share declassified CIA documents you think more people should know about.

11. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/Declassified/ [archived]

    Why do CIA documents go declassified hey guys, i've been having an argument with my boyfriend about Declassified CIA documents and why they go declassified. He says i'd the government really doesn't want us to know anything or if they are trying to trick us why would they release…

12. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/zmsfu9/declassified_cia_documents_talking_about_the/

    Declassified CIA Documents talking about the change in Soviet Leadership after Stalin's death, said Stalin wasn't actually a dictator

13. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/holofractal/comments/jj5zuf/what_the_universe_looks_like_according_to/ [archived]

    A comment I read on a different post explained that these declassified CIA and FBI documents are basically just accumulated by those agencies as, like, bulk information gathering. They may or may not be significant, but the agencies just grab them up just in case.

14. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/TheDeprogram/comments/14s83sh/declassified_cia_documents/

    Have you ever noticed how much more generous and nuanced the CIA are, in their declassified documents, than most liberals are when discussing the USSR? The people that write these documents seem to have an intimate understanding of how the socialist democracy of the USSR works an…

15. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/o7iwxm/what_are_the_craziest_declassified_cia_documents/ [archived]

    The proposals called for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or other U.S. government operatives to both stage and actually commit acts of terrorism against American military and civilian targets, blaming them on the Cuban government, and using it to justify a war against Cuba.

16. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/OSINT/comments/12h318x/where_to_access_the_leaked_pentagon_documents/ [archived]

    There are about 10 images pertaining to the Ukraine war, but I'm much mkre interested in the stuff pertaining to the Middle East and China. Some media sources like the Washington Post have written limited reports on the leaked papers and have access to over 5o documents. Does any…

CROSS-REFERENCE

• → SHARES-ACTOR Project Paperclip: Declassified Guidelines on Nazi Affiliations in Clearance Files — Both reference U S State Department, National Declassification Center Ndc, Ndc
• → SHARES-ACTOR Israeli Declassified Records on Post-1987 US Arms Transfers — Both reference U S State Department, National Declassification Center Ndc, Ndc
• → SHARES-ACTOR Israeli Declassified Documents: U.S. Arms Transfers Post-1987 — Both reference U S State Department, National Declassification Center Ndc, Ndc