CHILE VENTURE WRONG, 60% OF U.S. BELIEVES

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Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP09T00207R001000020026-5
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RIFPUB
Original Classification: 
U
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
August 9, 2011
Sequence Number: 
26
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
October 28, 1974
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020026-5 v~vnvrd? 1LS11+U.~Z'; 28 OCT 1974 Survey .ale venture. * uwrong9 do' of U. S. believes By Louis Harris BY A 60 TO 18 per cent majority, Americans feel it was "wrpng for the United States to intervene in the inter- nal affairs of Chile and to try to destabil- ize .its government- President -Ford acknowledged that U. S. intervention did take place, altho Secretary of State Henry Kissinger ar- gued it was to insure- the rights of Chilean forces out of power and not to overthrow the' Marxist regime of the late president, Salvador Allende. Al- lende died.in a violent military coup, which overthrew his government a. year ago. In a cross-section of 1,500 people participating last month in the Harris Survey, a substantial majority, 83 to 7 per cent, agrees that "every country should have the right to determine its own government by itself, without out- side interference from other countries." TRADITIONALLY, the right of self- determination has been a ground rule of international law, protecting the rights of smaller, weaker countries against the encroachment and invasion of larger powers. But it is well known that in a \ti_orld THE CHARGES of American Inter- vention in the overthrow of the Allende regime obviously have raised questions. by Americans about our foreign intel- ligence operations in general and the CIA ? in particular. And it could poten- tially cause a decline in confidence in Kissinger here at home. But at the present,. Kissinger is still highly regarded. of superpowers, all with substantial in- Participants in the nationwide surveys were asked: "How would you rate the' telligence networks, each major nation job Henry Kissinger is doing as secre-I maintains extensive intelligence activi- tary of--State-excellent, pretty good, ties in nearly every country of the world. President Ford sought to defend ony.fair, or poor?" ? U. S. intelligence activities by citing the l se>>. . % may, sums spent by Communist nations for Positive (good-excenentl 73 79 es intelligence. Negative [only fair-Poor] 22 is 10 Not sure $ e S By a narrow 43 to 39 per cent response, Even tho- Kissinger.l has slipped in Americans are willing to accept the, public favor since- May, he-still com- CIAs role - as `working inside others countries to mands far more respect than most try to strengthen those ele. public figures in_this year of dashed meats friendly to the U. S. and to weaken anti-U. S. forces." confidence in government. The heart of the controversy over But regardless of Kissinger's achieve- American intervention in Chile is how of meat Us U. S. ? and policy interventionin geonl, Chile `the ststan u1 ands ds to reconcile CIA operations designed toi condemned by Americans. The survey aid pro-U. S. elements wittl the univer' asked: sally -accepted rule of self-determina ,,Do you think it ryas right or sarong tion. Cloaked in top secrecy, CLA opera, for the U. S. to intervene in the internal tions normally remain unknown excepti affairs of Chile and to try to destabilize to the highest officials of the agency,, its the Pentagon, the White House, and government?" . select congressional committees. Total public There were widespread reports of is % CIA activity in the overthrow of the w ono 60 Allende government at the tine and Not sure 22 charges by-. pro-Allende elements that, Among those Americans who want the coup was engineered by the CIA. their public officials to level with them The CIA is particularly vulnerable to and keep, covert government activities criticism these days because of unre- to a minimum, there is likely to be a ,solved charges of possible involvement 'growing demand for- full disclosure of in Watergate related activities. the role of the CIA, particularly where When asked to rate the job the CIA its activities might conflict with the is doing "as the chief foreign intelli-l right of other nations to self-determina- Secretary of state Kissinger's alleged role in U. S. operations in Chile has . reportedly stemmed from orders prig-' inating with him as head of the 40 Committee, a supersecret group respon- sible for America's covert intelligence, matters. - When asked if Kissinger's usefulness woud be impaired if allegations of his involvement in CIA activity in Chile were true, 18 per cent of the respon dents said it would "seriously damage" his usefulness - as secretary of State, and another 31 per cent said it would'. "only partly damage" him. One in three people said that even if a Kis-1 singer role in Chile were proven, it, would not "damage., his influence at all." cent vote. gence agency of the U. S. government,", tine. the public gives it only a 42 to 31 per. ' 48 Approved For Release 2011/08/09: CIA-RDP09TOO207RO01000020026-5