Washington, DC - The Department of State released today Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E–16, Documents on Chile, 1969–1973.

This volume is part of a Foreign Relations subseries that documents the most important foreign policy issues of the Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford presidential administrations. The volume documents U.S. policy toward Chile from January 1969 to September 24, 1973, when the Nixon administration announced its extension of diplomatic recognition to the military junta under General Augusto Pinochet. It is an online-only supplement to Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXI, Chile, 1969–1973, and should be read in conjunction with that volume, as well with the upcoming Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume E–11, Part 2, Documents on South America, 1973–1976.

The primary focus of Volume E–16 is on the attitudes adopted and actions taken by the U.S. Government toward the installation of two successive Chilean presidents: the election and inauguration of Salvador Allende in September 1970 and the military coup d’état of General Augusto Pinochet in September 1973. In contrast to the printed volume, this supplement includes a selection of Presidential tape recordings, as transcribed by the editors, which add context and detail to formal records on President Nixon’s posture toward President Allende, as well as several documents on human rights violations in the aftermath of the Pinochet coup d’état.

This volume was compiled and edited by James McElveen and James Siekmeier and is available exclusively on the Office of the Historian website at http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve16.