MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean lawmakers want to know about US involvement in 1973 coup

“A half-truth is a complete lie,” Kaiser argued

Chile's Lower House Wednesday agreed to ask President Gabriel Boric Font to instruct the Foreign Ministry to request the government of the United States to release the details of its involvement in the Sept. 11, 1973, coup d'état staged by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte against the democratically-elected Salvador Allende, it was reported in Santiago.

The request, promoted by the ruling Social Convergence was approved by 125 votes in favor, two against and seven abstentions. According to local media, some lawmakers also wanted to seek information from Cuba and the Soviet Union.

“It is requested to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to manage the delivery of all the secret archives of the U.S. intervention in Chile in the period indicated”, says the resolution.

Amid the activities marking the 50th anniversary of the military uprising, Boric's government has created an agenda outlying a series of activities in rejection of any action involving the breakdown of democracy.

“The truth will set us free,” Republican Deputy (ultra-right) Cristian Araya said before adding that “it would also be important that we incorporate the intervention of the Soviet Union and Cuba.” Communist Congresswoman Carmen Hertz contended Araya was to speak only “in favor of this project ... and not transform the republican space into something that does not correspond.”

”We believe that it is important that this background be known, because there was foreign intervention during this period (military dictatorship), and this background must be known, the truth sets us free and we are not going to refuse to know this background,“ Araya replied.

”Just as we want the intervention of Cuban intelligence to be clarified, we also want the intervention of the CIA and the U.S. government to be clarified,“ he added. ”The truth is the greatest enemy of lies and also of Communism,“ he went on.

Hertz then called on the other lawmakers ”not to use tricks to divert the meaning of the speeches“ and that if they ”want to speak in favor of a draft resolution, it is not appropriate to include extensions.“

Republican Congressman Johannes Kaiser, who was to speak against the bill, said ”The truth is only wanted to be known in a partial way.“ He added that the petition was ” very limited“ because it ”goes hand in hand with what is the prejudice or political expediency of those who just made it, which is to tell only part of the story and we all know that a half-truth is a complete lie.”