US considered offering asylum to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
US considered offering asylum to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
Documents detail high-level Ronald Reagan administration debates on policy options to ease Pinochet out of power
Jonathan Franklin in Santiago
The Guardian, Thursday 11 September 2014 14.48 EDT
The government of Ronald Reagan was so worried that leftwing opposition to General Augusto Pinochet might erupt into open civil war that in 1986 the US government considered offering political asylum to the Chilean dictator.
Documents recently discovered in US archives reveal that a mission headed by US army general John Galvin went to Chile in 1986 to assess the growing street protest and guerrilla efforts to upend the unpopular Pinochet regime.
As the US began to understand the depth and passion of the opposition, fears of civil war forced Reagan officials to look for alternatives including, as one document stated, "An honorable departure for President (Pinochet), who would be received as a guest of our (US) government."
The documents, unearthed by Chilean journalist Loreto Daza at the US national archives and records administration in Maryland, detail high-level Reagan administration debates on policy options to ease Pinochet out of power.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/11/augusto-pinochet-asylum-united-states-ronald-reagan
