Current:Home > InvestRep. Ocasio-Cortez calls on US to declassify documents on Chile’s 1973 coup-LoTradeCoin
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez calls on US to declassify documents on Chile’s 1973 coup
View Date:2024-12-23 21:43:14
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in Chile that it was imperative for the United States to declassify documents that could shed light on Washington’s involvement in the South American country’s 1973 coup.
“The transparency of the United States could present an opportunity for a new phase in our relationship between the United States and Chile,” Ocasio-Cortez said in Spanish in a video posted on Instagram alongside Camila Vallejo, the spokesperson for the left-leaning government of President Gabriel Boric.
The Democratic congresswoman from New York is part of a delegation of lawmakers who traveled to the capital of Santiago ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup against President Salvador Allende on Sept. 11, 1973.
The delegation had first traveled to Brazil and will now go to Colombia, both of which are also ruled by left-leaning governments.
The goal of the trip was to “start to change … the relationships between the United States and Chile and the region, Latin America as a whole,” Ocasio-Cortez told outside the Museum of Memory and Human Rights that remembers the victims of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990.
“It’s very important to frame the history of what happened here in Chile with Pinochet’s dictatorship. And also to acknowledge and reflect on the role of the United States in those events,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez said she has introduced legislation to declassify documents related to Chile’s coup and Vallejo said a similar request had been made by the Chilean government.
“In Chile as well, a similar request was made … that aims to declassify documents from the Nixon administration, particularly certain testimonies from the CIA director. This is to attain a clearer understanding of what transpired and how the United States was involved in the planning of the civil and military coup, and the subsequent years that followed,” Vallejo said. “This is very important for our history.”
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas, said after the delegation’s approximately hourlong visit to the museum in Santiago that it was important to recognize the “truth” that “the United States was involved with the dictatorship and the coup.”
“So that’s why we’re here,” Casar said in Spanish to journalists, “to acknowledge the truth, to begin a new future.”
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro from Texas said the visit to the museum was a reminder that it was important “to make sure that a tragedy and a horror like this never, ever happens again in Chile or in Latin America or anywhere else around the world.”
Earlier in the day, the delegation also met with Santiago Mayor Irací Hassler.
Reps. Nydia Velázquez of New York and Maxwell Frost of Florida also traveled to South America as part of the delegation sponsored by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank.
————
Politi reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
veryGood! (8888)
Related
- 'Yellowstone's powerful opening: What happened to Kevin Costner's John Dutton?
- Madrid edges Mallorca 1-0 and Girona beats Atletico 4-3 to stay at the top at halfway point in Spain
- Michelle Yeoh celebrates birth of grandchild on New Year's Day: 'A little miracle'
- What’s known, and what remains unclear, about the deadly explosions in Iran
- 5-year-old boy who went missing while parent was napping is found dead near Oregon home, officials say
- Puerto Rico comptroller strikes down popular slogan used by governor’s office
- New York governor pushes for reading education overhaul as test scores lag
- Israel’s Supreme Court delays activation of law that makes it harder to remove Netanyahu from office
- All the Ways Megan Fox Hinted at Her Pregnancy With Machine Gun Kelly
- Trial postponed for man charged in 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie due to forthcoming memoir
Ranking
- New Jersey will issue a drought warning after driest October ever and as wildfires rage
- Which EVs qualify for a $7,500 tax credit in 2024? See the updated list.
- Thousands of women stocked up on abortion pills, especially following news of restrictions
- Some overlooked good news from 2023: Six countries knock out 'neglected' diseases
- Video ‘bares’ all: Insurers say bear that damaged luxury cars was actually a person in a costume
- China’s BYD is rivaling Tesla in size. Can it also match its global reach?
- Two large offshore wind sites are sending power to the US grid for the first time
- The 'witching hour' has arrived: How NFL RedZone sparked a sensation among fans
Recommendation
-
John Krasinski named People magazine’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive
-
Shootout with UNLV gunman heard in new Las Vegas police body camera video
-
Davante Adams advocates for Antonio Pierce to be named Las Vegas Raiders head coach
-
Books We Love: No Biz Like Showbiz
-
Voyager 2 is the only craft to visit Uranus. Its findings may have misled us for 40 years.
-
WWII-era practice bomb washed up on California beach after intense high surf
-
Woman headed for girls trip struck, killed as she tries to get luggage off road
-
NFL stars sitting out Week 18: Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey among those resting