Overview

Orlando Letelier del Solar was a Chilean diplomat; economist; and politician who served as Ambassador to the United States; Minister of Foreign Affairs; Minister of Interior; and Minister of Defense under President Salvador Allende. After Pinochet's September 11; 1973 CIA-backed coup; Letelier was imprisoned and tortured for over a year in concentration camps including the notorious Dawson Island. After international pressure secured his release; he moved to Washington D.C.; where he worked at the Institute for Policy Studies and became the most prominent international voice against the Pinochet dictatorship. On September 21; 1976; Letelier was assassinated when a car bomb exploded on Embassy Row in Washington D.C. His American colleague Ronni Karpen Moffitt; 25; was also killed. The bomb was planted by DINA (Chilean secret police) agent Michael Townley under orders from DINA chief Manuel Contreras; acting on Pinochet's authority. This was the first state-sponsored assassination by a foreign government on U.S. soil. The operation was part of Operation Condor; the coordinated campaign of political repression and state terror by South American dictatorships with CIA knowledge. Despite the murder of an American citizen and a foreign diplomat on American soil; the U.S. response was muted due to the Cold War relationship with Pinochet. Declassified documents later revealed extensive U.S. knowledge of Operation Condor.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (2)

Known Associates & Connections

Sources & Documentation

1 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports