“It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup…. It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the [the U.S. government] and American hand be well hidden.” This directive was written in 1970 by the deputy CIA director in a secret memo—just one of many declassified documents that reveal the role of the CIA and Nixon White House in the 1973 Chilean coup.

Nation contributor Peter Kornbluh joins Democracy Now! on the fortieth anniversary of the coup to discuss the efforts of the Nixon administration to undermine the democratically elected Allende government and the continued failure to hold Kissinger accountable for his role in the atrocities committed by the Pinochet regime.

—Jake Scobey-Thal