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The September 21, 1976 car bombing by Captain General Augusto Pinochet's DINA in
Washington, D.C., which claimed two lives (including that of an American), was the
worst foreign terrorist attack in the nation's capital until 9/11/2001.
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Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law
flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close
our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too
frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow
against freedom and decency and justice.
Robert F. Kennedy
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"For years, Pentagon paid professor despite revoked
visa and accusations of torture in Chile"
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article16508918.html
"Officials with the U.S. military school the William J. Perry Center for
Hemispheric Defense Studies knew by at least 2008 that Jaime Garcia
Covarrubias had been accused of being part of Chiles brutal secret police and
stood accused of torture and murder.
"Yet after the State Department revoked his Defense Department-sponsored visa
on June 18, 2011, and a special U.S. human rights violator unit notified defense
officials afterward, Garcia Covarrubias was paid sick leave and collected an
annual salary in excess of $100,000 until February 2014.
"The compensation was paid despite recommendations from the U.S. Embassy
in Chile that Garcia Covarrubias face deportation proceedings and potential
removal from the United States because of the allegations.
"The handling of the matter, some critics say, casts doubt on the U.S.
commitment to human rights. Multiple government sources, who insisted on
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed that once the State
Department revoked his visa, no one else moved aggressively against Garcia
Covarrubias, partly in deference to the Defense Department. ...
'The Department of Defense should know better than to invite in and continue to
employ a foreign military officer for a position of authority at a prestigious U.S.
institution even after he was credibly implicated in serious crimes,' Sen. Patrick
Leahy, D-Vt., told McClatchy. 'We criticize other countries for failing to hold
accountable officers who violate the law. Yet, in this case, we reward him in our
own country? It sends a terrible message.' ...
"The Garcia Covarrubias affair also raises questions about why it did not appear
in the annual human rights report published by the State Department. This report
is done country by country and details allegations, old and new, that remain in
the public eye." (Italics added.) ...
"Garcia Covarrubias alleged role in the murders and torture had been known by
the school since at least 2008 and was the subject of tense internal emails.
Martin Edwin Andersen, then the centers communication director, raised them
with the schools leaders and now claims in a complaint that he was retaliated
against for raising the issue.
"At the time, school officials told Andersen that the U.S. government had nothing
on Garcia Covarrubias.
'I have been involved in situations involving unproven allegations before and
the potential of harming the reputation of a person who may be wrongfully
accused is also a major consideration that weighs heavily with me,' Richard
Downie, then the director of the school, wrote to Andersen in a Nov. 12, 2008,
email.
"He then ordered Andersen to back off.
'I remind you that you are our chief of strategic communications and were not
hired to be an investigative journalist,' Downie added.
"A member of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochets brutal secret police
whos been accused of murder taught for more than a decade at the Pentagons
premier university, despite repeated complaints by his colleagues about his past.
Jaime Garcia Covarrubias is charged in criminal court in Santiago with being the
mastermind in the execution-style slayings of seven people in 1973, according to
court documents. McClatchy also interviewed an accuser who identified Garcia
Covarrubias as the person who sexually tortured him."
"[Margaret Daly Hayes, the centers first director], who hired Garcia Covarrubias,
stressed that he would have been too young to be in any kind of command
position in DINA. Asked whether it was a disqualifier, she said it depended 'on
what he might have been doing at the time.'
'Someone who has previously worked with the CIA might not have been
excluded from hiring,' she offered.
"McClatchy asked the CIA whether Garcia Covarrubias had ever worked with the
agency.
'No comment,' said Kali Caldwell, a CIA spokeswoman."
"The NDU Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies ... has itself been rocked by
controversy in recent years. A nonpublic report in 2012 by a U.S. Army colonel,
appointed by the Centers director in response to persistent staff complaints,
concluded that 'a hostile work environment exists'; that its staff had displayed 'a
lack of sensitivity towards the use of derogatory language'; and many employees
felt its leaders routinely retaliated against those who questioned them.
"The report, obtained by CPI under the Freedom of Information Act, depicted a
sort of frat-house atmosphere at the Center. It stated that staff had exchanged
'racially charged emails' including one directed at President Barack Obama;
used offensive language such as 'faggot,' 'buttboy' and 'homo'; and that 'women
employees feel that they are treated inappropriately.' Even senior leaders used
'inappropriate hand gestures,' it said, and mentioned simulations of
masturbation."
"A military school operated by the Department of Defense has come under
criticism for hiring military officers from Latin America accused of human rights
atrocities. National Defense University (NDU) employed at least two controversial
commanders, one from Colombia and another from Chile, who allegedly oversaw
or personally ordered heinous crimes against civilians."
"In October, General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
issued the '2015-2018 Chairmans Joint Training Guidance,' in which he
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Looking Back (2)
Memorandum
TO: Ken LaPlante
FROM: Mick Andersen
RE: Allegations of human rights abuse against CHDS professor
DATE: February 25, 2008
Ken,
Attached please find two more articles in which Jaime Garcia Covarrubias is
mentioned in connection with human rights cases in Chile. The June 27, 2007
article, Ministro Madrid ordeno interrogar a Fernandez Larios en Estados
Unidos is of particular due to the fact it was published only eight months ago.
The story says that Chilean authorities are investigating the murders of Eugenio
Barrios, Carmelo Soria and the ex-DINA agent Manuel Leyton and that the exDINA [secret police] agent Jaime Garcia Covarrubias will be sought for
questioning, together with the person accused of their murder.
The second article is a history of the creation of the DINA, produced by the
Chilean human rights group Memoria Viva. The relevant two paragraphs say
the following:
Morales Salgado, apparently a Garcia Covarrubias subordinate, was directly
implicated in the assassination of Gen. Carlos Prats and his wife in Buenos Aires
in
1974.
(http://www.lanacion.cl/prontus_noticias/site/artic/20070622/pags/200706221740
30.html)
I bring this to your attention because the story about how Chilean authorities are
still investigating crimes in which Jaime may be a person of interest means that
CHDS, and by association, NDU, may at some point not too distance from now
find one of our members in the headlines of newspapers in Washington and
Santiago.
As you know, the DINA was Capt. General Augusto Pinochets secret police and
carried out a lions share of the illegal repression during the military regime. (The
DINAs victims included two people, including one America, who were blown up
_______________________________________________
Looking Back (3)
_______________________________________________
Looking Back (4)
From: LaPlante, Kenneth
Sent: Tue 5/27/2008 12:54 PM
To: Andersen, Martin Edwin
Subject: P4
Mick -- I believe that I told you already this is currently a CHIMERA; it remains an
allegation and rule of law bends to the person not the accuser; NDU records
reflect nothing unusual; Bruce Burslie collaborates the NDU position;
MILGP/AMEMB informed - the action is theirs and to-date - nothing of interest to
inform.
Mick -- if you have reason to believe otherwise then write it donw and submit it to
Dir, CHDS thru me; otherwise assume that our JCG is not the same and/or that
the allegations are wanting
VR Ken
Questions
1. Did fast track hiring at CHDS, which appears to have contravened personnel
rules at the time, also involve short cuts in the vetting process? No fast track; 8
applicants (incl Dennis Caffrey) in this action
Was the candidate vetted at all? Yes per AMEMB process a the time Do we
have reason now to believe that the vetting was carried out correctly? YES Was
Jaime, a consultant with the IDB, already in the country Not to anyone's
knowldge and thus was able to avoid being vetted at all?
2. There are two separate human rights questions relating to someone named
Jaime Garcia Covarrubias. As related - still an allegation; and the 'someone'
is still not ascertained
a) One involved a young lieutenant by that name in Temuco who was accused of
participating in the torture and murder of at least eight people, including an Italian
priest.
b) The other, whether the Jaime Garcia Covarrubias mentioned as being an
official of the Chilean secret police (DINA) is the same person employed at
CHDS.
Are the two Jaime Garcia Covarrubias mentioned in each episode the same
person? As related - still an allegation; and the 'someone' is still not
ascertained
3. In the case of the eight people tortured and murdered in Temuco, in which a
Jaime Garcia Covarrubias was allegedly involved, there are several evidentiary
issues that should be looked at:
a) The Jaime Garcia Covarrubias employed by CHDS might have had a
lieutenant rank at that time, given his age at the time the crimes were committed.
Inconsequential and conjecture on your part
b) There were two peopleCarrasco and Buholzerwho survived and may or
may not be alive today and might be able to confirm whether or not the CHDS
Garcia Covarrubias was involved in the crimes.
c) In the case of the Italian priest, the Italian court hasaccording to press
reportstestimonies from survivors from the period and witnesses linked to the
case. This evidence is likely to be available to the public. Inconsequential and
conjecture on your part
d) This is important because it is my understanding that information uncovered by
the official Chilean investigating committees is under lock and key for 50 years
and cannot be introduced as material for a court. That does not mean someone
somewhere does not have a copy. Inconsequential and conjecture on your
part
e) Also, although there is some confusion about the name Jaime Garcia
Covarrubias in the DINA case, given that the information obtained from the
magazine Analisis refers to a JULIO Jaime Garcia Covarrubias (although there
were other points suggesting that they are the same person), in the Italian case,
the middle initial G. is used, just like the name used by the CHDS professor.
Inconsequential and conjecture on your part
4. In the case of the person having an important role in the DINA in addition to
the Julio Jaime question addressed in 3 e] the Analisis article talks of a
retirement in 1981 from the War Academy. However, the Web bio of the Jaime
Garcia Covarrubias employed at CHDS suggests he retired in 1997.
At the same time, there is another set of data which points to commonalities
between the secret police official and CHDS Garcia Covarrubias:
_______________________________________________
Looking Back (5)
To: LaPlante, Kenneth
BCC: Frank McGurk
On Tuesday, December 14, 2010 10:48 AM, Martin Edwin Andersen
<martinedwinandersen@ > wrote:
Yes, you did. Obviously you forgot because it is right there in the
contemporaneous e-mail of 11/11/08. I have been very professional about this.
I only backed away after the Director, after snide comments by Tomas Costa and
Craig Deare, told me to stop being an investigative journalist and get back to my
strategic communications duties.
This despite my memos clearly stating that I was looking into all this on my own
time, and of course, the image of the Center is a strategic communications duty,
as the articles in the Chilean press this past week clearly show.
V/R,
Mick
_________
On Tuesday, December 14,
<LaPlanteK@ndu.edu> wrote:
2010
10:20
AM,
"LaPlante,
Kenneth"
Mick -- will you freaki'get your facts straight -- when did we discuss the Italian
justice system? I have no opinion nor have I ever stated an opinion on the
Italians -- so let's start over:
1 -- you and I initated the CHDS overview; you found the info initally on Jaime -we both looked into it a few years back and found nothing substantiated; I then
asked USG (MILGP-Chile/AMEMB) -- and they reproted nothing negative from
GOC or USG (and the USG issued the visas)....
2 -- I expect you to continue to do what you've been doing - in a matter of fact,
professional manner as always.
VR
Ken
____
_____
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Looking Back (6)
From: Martin Edwin Andersen martinedwinandersen@
Date: Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 9:09 AM
Subject: E-mail to me from former Ambassador Cris Arcos ...
To:
Cris was, at the time, the CHDS political advisor and was encouraging me to
have an IG investigation launched ...
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Cris Arcos arcoscs@
Date: Mon, May 30, 2011 at 11:36 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: FW: Frank McGurk
To: "Martin E. Andersen martinedwinandersen@
Thanks..I kind enjoy your keen preparation of our collective suicide...I am afraid
that your avalanche of memos and similar notes and bagatelles have made many
peoples' sphincters snap shut...let us see what state of warpath they are
tomorrow....they will seek blood
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Looking Back (7)
From: David Spencer
Date: Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 10:37 PM
Subject: FYI
To: James Zackrison, Hugo Acha, "Martin E. Andersen"
Guys this was sent to me today. As you can see we are in the clear
since we did our due diligence beforehand, but it is not preventing
people from trying to find ways to get to us.
David
From: Heaton, John, Lt Col, DSCA/OGC [mailto:John.Heaton@dsca.mil]
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 4:41 PM
To: LaPlante, Kenneth; Murphy, Mollie
Cc: Downie, Richard; Thompson, John; Bitencourt, Luis; Lora, Manuel;
Gold-Biss, Michael; Earle, Walter, CIV, OSD-POLICY
Subject: RE: Request for Advice/Assistance Hi Sir,
I didn't see anything on the website to indicate any prima facie violation of
the Joint Ethics Regulation or other law. ...
From: LaPlante, Kenneth [mailto:LaPlanteK@ndu.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 2:35 PM
To: Heaton, John, Lt Col, DSCA/OGC; Murphy, Mollie
Cc: Downie, Richard; Thompson, John; Bitencourt, Luis; Lora, Manuel;
Gold-Biss, Michael; Earle, Walter, CIV, OSD-POLICY
Subject: Request for Advice/Assistance One of my employees brought me in an interesting "LinkedIn" profile that led
me to this site . ...
Could you please look at the web site and tell me if this activity is okay or
possibly in violation of specific laws, regs (JER, NDU TX) and or what. ...