Word: moffitt
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...Chilean press has more than covered the allegations surrounding the Letelier case. They have even suggested the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was in collusion with DINA--an organization started by the head of the ruling Chilean junta, Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Moffitt draws a parallel between the Chilean coverage of this investigation and the American press coverage of Watergate; he says that Pinochet's enemies are using this scandal to force him out of office, in the same way Americans said that Nixon couldn't govern the country amidst the Watergate revelations. He adds that an official in the State Department...
...Moffitt says Pinochet has fallen into disfavor with many Chileans who had earlier supported him. He claims the middle class, members of which make up a large portion of the Christian Democrats Party (PDC), has been squeezed by Pinochet's rigid "free trade" Chicago school economic policies, and that there has been a split within the ruling junta. He suggests that there are people in the U.S. and in "influential circles" in Chile who would like to see Pinochet replaced by a government formed by General Gustavo Leigh, commander of the Chilean Air Force, and Eduardo Frei, former president...
...think Leigh probably thinks the economic policy is too extreme and that Pinochet's personal power is a direct threat to him," Moffitt says, adding that if one looks at the situation historically it is interesting that Pinochet has the most power in the junta because the reins of government "fell on his lap"--he was not, for the most part, involved in anti-Allende activity...
...Moffitt says that the Pinochet government turned Townley over hoping he would not talk. Pinochet would like to make the assassination look like it was the work of Patria y Libertad so that he can dissociate himself from Townley and at the same time discredit Leigh, Moffitt says, adding that Pinochet was forced to deport Townley because he couldn't deny that Townley was issued an official passport. An interesting sidelight Moffitt mentions is a subscandal involving Guillermo Ossorio, the man who issued the passports to Townley and Larios. Ossorio died on October 21, 1977, after last being seen with...
...Moffitt claims the FBI is "terrified that the Cubans are going to kill Townley before he ever gets to the grand jury," because he theoretically knows a lot of behind-the-scenes information on both the anti-Castro Cubans and DINA. "I think that he's the kind of character that could plea bargain for a lesser charge, and talk about the other people," Moffitt claimed prior to the report last week that Townley is indeed prepared to talk in order to reduce his sentence. "Although the problem with that is, if he does, he'll never sleep again...