Dirección De Inteligencia Nacional
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The Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA; ) was the
secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...
of
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
during the dictatorship of
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
. The DINA has been referred to as "Pinochet's
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
". Established in November 1973 as a Chilean Army intelligence unit headed by Colonel Manuel Contreras and vice-director Raúl Iturriaga, the DINA was then separated from the army and made an independent administrative unit in June 1974 under the auspices of Decree 521. The DINA existed until 1977, after which it was renamed the '' Central Nacional de Informaciones'' () or CNI. In 2008, the Chilean Army presented a list of 1,097 DINA agents to Judge Alejandro Solís. Despite falling under Pinochet's legal authority, American-born DINA operative Michael Townley described Contreras as DINA's actual "intellectual head." Pedro Espinoza served as deputy to Contreras as well.


DINA internal suppression and human rights violations

Under decree #521, the DINA had the power to detain any individual so long as there was a declared
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
. Such an administrative state characterized nearly the entire length of the Pinochet government. Torture and rape of detainees was common:


DINA censorship of media

As of September 11, 1973, the
military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...
worked with DINA to censor channels, newspapers, and radio transmissions that supported the Popular Socialist Union and supporters. A decree by the Junta established that all public information would have to be inspected and revised by the Junta before airing, and a couple days later an "Office of Censorship" was created to supervise all media. A lot of newspapers received their work back scribbled out with red ink. Through coercion, murder, and kidnappings, television outlets masked the truth on the coup d'état as a plan by the military of Chile. Various international cable news networks were banned by DINA to prevent the news of the forced coup d'état by the military. Some international networks were convinced to lie by the Junta about social and political aspects of Chile. The censorship breached particular homes and public services, and on September 23, 1973, DINA sent policemen to register households and institutions. They searched subversive evidence such as books by
Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...
, articles on social sciences, political science, human rights, and those who were rounded up and burned at the
Plaza de Armas (Santiago) The ''Plaza de Armas'' is the town square, main square of Santiago, the capital of Chile. Plaza de Armas metro station is located under the square. Surrounding the square are some historic buildings, including the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santi ...
.


Role of Manuel Contreras

Despite answering to Pinochet, Gen. Manuel Contreras held significant sway over DINA's operations and is credited with creating the group. In his role as leader of DINA, and as one of Pinochet's closest confidents, Contreras became the second most powerful person in Chile. In a letter which Michael Townley wrote to Contreras on March 1, 1978, Townley, using the alias J. Andreas Wilson, referred to him on as "Don Manuel" and noted the authority he had over him. When he brought up the Letelier-Moffitt assassination, Townley noted how the influential DINA leader was able to get away with not letting Pinochet know the truth about this case.


Foreign involvement

The United States backed and supported the Fatherland and Liberty Nationalist Front, which funded and directed the first coup attempt against Allende's regime, known as the Tanquetazo. The CIA established links with DINA after the successful
1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état () was a military overthrow of the democratic socialist president of Chile Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity (Chile), Popular Unity coalition government. Allende, who has been described as the first Marxist ...
. Ties were cut, however, after the assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington DC, which DINA agent Michael Townley was directly tied with and which eventually led to the disbanding of the DINA in 1977. In a confession letter dated March 13, 1978 Townley claimed that he in fact went through with the Letelier and Ronni Moffit assassinations on behalf of DINA and was "following orders from Gen. Contreras." On September 21, 1976, Townley updated an earlier letter and implied that DINA worked with other
Southern Cone The Southern Cone (, ) is a geographical and cultural subregion composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Traditionally, it covers Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, bounded on the west by the Pac ...
secret police forces as part of a network known as "Red Condor," which he claimed assisted his travel into the United States to recruit the American Cuban exile assassins who were on his assassination team that killed Letelier.


DINA foreign assassinations and operations

The DINA was involved in
Operation Condor Operation Condor (; ) was a campaign of political repression by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America, involving intelligence operations, coups, and assassinations of left-wing sympathizers in South America which fo ...
, as well as Operation Colombo. In July 1976, two magazines in
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
appeared and published the names of 119 Chilean
leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...
opponents, claiming they had been killed in internal disputes unrelated to the Pinochet regime. Both magazines disappeared after this one and only issue. Judge Juan Guzmán Tapia eventually asked Chilean justices to lift Pinochet's immunity in this case, called "Operation Colombo", having accumulated evidence that Pinochet had ordered the DINA to plant this disinformation, in order to cover up the "disappearance" and murder by the Chilean secret police of those 119 persons. In September 2005, Chile's Supreme Court ordered the lifting of Pinochet's general immunity from prosecutions, with respect to this case.


Michael Townley's role

In a confession letter which Michael Townley wrote on March 14, 1978, he acknowledged to being DINA's lead foreign assassin. Joining DINA in 1974, Townley would go on lead a special DINA unit called the "Agrupación Avispa"—the Wasp Group—which operated under DINA's Mulchén Brigade and was "dedicated to elimination" of opponents of the Pinochet regime.


Assassinations of Carlos Prats and Orlando Letelier

The DINA worked with international agents, such as Michael Townley, who assassinated former Chilean minister Orlando Letelier in Washington DC in 1976, as well as General Carlos Prats in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, in 1974. In a letter discussing plans for the assassination of Letelier, Townley noted the planned date-September 21, 1976- and how he received the assassination order from Contreras deputy Pedro Espinoza. Michael Townley worked with Eugenio Berríos on producing sarin in the 1970s, at a laboratory in a DINA-owned house in the district of Lo Curro,
Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...
. Eugenio Berríos, who was murdered in 1992, was also linked with drug traffickers and agents of the
Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...
(DEA).


Accounts of daily life in Chile

Certain writers and journalists who opposed the right-wing regime conducted clandestine interviews with individuals enduring life under DINA. Among them was Patricia Politzer, who documented the harrowing experiences of those who suffered in Chile. One of the testimonies features a mother whose leftist sympathizer son fell victim to
forced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...
s in Chile. Despite the removal of Pinochet from power, she never received any information about her son's fate. Numerous others who disappeared or were killed during that period remained unidentified, leaving thousands of families of leftist sympathizers still searching for their loved ones in Chile this day. Compensation for these losses was minimal, and children endured immense hardship. In another interview, Politzer recounted the story of a woman who survived being shot alongside other leftists. She emphasized that had she perished at the hands of DINA, her children would have been left without care. These accounts highlight the callous disregard exhibited by DINA and other agencies operating under Pinochet's authority, resulting in children being orphaned. Patricia Politzer's work in "Fear in Chile" vividly portrays the stark realities of life in Chile during the Pinochet era.


Replacement of DINA by the CNI

DINA was replaced by the CNI (Central Nacional de Informaciones) in 1977 and Contreras was replaced by general Odlanier Mena. By that time, DINA had reached its military goals: assassinate the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR) leadership and the main leaders of the Popular Unity, the coalition of the parties that had won the 1970 elections. The dissolution of the CNI occurred in 1990 during the Chilean transition to democracy. After the fall of Pinochet's regime, Contreras was prosecuted in Chile due to crimes against humanity while heading the DINA and sentenced to 12 years in prison for covert kidnappings, a crime that had not been amnestied. However, judge Víctor Montiglio who had replaced judge Juan Guzmán Tapia gave amnesty to Contreras in 2005. Finally, on June 30, 2008, Contreras was sentenced to two life-sentences, one for the murder of Carlos Prats and one for the murder of his wife, Sofía Cuthbert. He also received an additional 20-year sentence for illicit association.


Other activities

In 1975, Virgilio Paz Romero, a Cuban exile affiliated with DINA, visited
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
and secretly took photographs of prisons run by the Northern Ireland Prison Service as part of a DINA assignment. The Chilean government had intended to publicly display the photographs at the
headquarters of the United Nations , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004 (cropped).jpg , image_size = 275px , caption = View of the complex from Long Island City in 2021; from left to right: the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buil ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to discredit British criticism of human rights abuses in Chile. However, the photographs arrived too late to be utilised by the Chilean government, and were eventually published in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
-based newspaper ''
El Mercurio (known online as ''El Mercurio On-Line'', ''EMOL'') is a Chilean newspaper with editions in Valparaíso and Santiago. is owned by El Mercurio S.A.P. (''Sociedad Anónima Periodística'' 'joint stock news company'), which operates a network of ...
'' instead. Townley wrote an undated letter to Pinochet informing him of Romero's assignment, which was subsequently intercepted by the American
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...
. Beginning in late 2014, in response to a request by Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee
Carl Levin Carl Milton Levin (June 28, 1934 – July 29, 2021) was an American attorney and politician who served as a List of United States senators from Michigan, United States senator from Michigan from 1979 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party (U ...
, the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, a
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
(DoD) institution for defense and security studies in the
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, was placed under investigation by the DoD's Inspector General. Levin's request was in response to several instances of insider
whistleblowing Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...
, which alleged that the institution knowingly protected a professor who worked for DINA, as well as the purported participation of other employees of the institution in the
2009 Honduran coup d'état The 2009 Honduran coup d'état, which took place during the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, occurred after President of Honduras, President Manuel Zelaya failed to follow a Supreme Court of Honduras, Honduran Supreme Court ruling. On 28 ...
. Senator
Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy ( ; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he also was the pr ...
stated that " ports that NDU hired foreign military officers with histories of involvement in human rights abuses, including torture and extra-judicial killings of civilians, are stunning, and they are repulsive". Leahy had previously authored the "Leahy Law", which prohibits U.S. assistance to foreign military and law enforcement personnel suspected of violating human rights.McClatchyDC
Chilean 70's torture survivor seeks justice
March 12, 2015


See also

* Disappearance of Jorge Müller and Carmen Bueno * Eugenio Berríos *
Manuel Contreras Juan Manuel "Mamo" Guillermo Contreras Sepúlveda (4 May 1929 – 7 August 2015) was a Chilean Army officer and the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto ...
* Miguel Krassnoff *
Operation Condor Operation Condor (; ) was a campaign of political repression by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America, involving intelligence operations, coups, and assassinations of left-wing sympathizers in South America which fo ...
* Raúl Iturriaga * Ingrid Olderock


References


External links


History of the organization

Memoriaviva
(Complete list of Victims, Torture Centres and Criminals)
List DINA agents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Direccion de Inteligencia Nacional Coup d'etat 1970s in Chile 1973 establishments in Chile 1977 disestablishments in Chile Anti-communist organizations Defunct Chilean intelligence agencies Operation Condor Political repression in Chile during the military government (1973–1990) Secret police