The Foreign Ministry refused to disclose information on German intelligence cooperation with the CIA in Chile in the 1960s and ‘70s, citing the “good of [the] state” and an agreement of “confidentiality.”
The German Foreign Ministry has refused to disclose details on cooperation of the BND, the German intelligence service, with Chile during the rule of Augusto Pinochet, Deutsche Welle reported Thursday.
The Foreign Ministry did admit that the administration of then-Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt knew in advance of the putsch planned by Pinochet in 1973, but declined to provide further details.
He received similar vague answers regarding BND’s cooperation with the military junta that ran Greece between 1967 and 1974.According to media reports from the time, German authorities initially praised Pinochet, viewing him as someone who would bring order to Chile; besides, Pinochet’s takeover promised substantial economic benefits, DW writes.
According to Korte, the Foreign Ministry’s lackluster response contrasts with the general aims of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which runs the ministry and which has otherwise made reevaluating German history a point of its concern.
“It just shows that there is no awareness of the problem,” Korte said. “There is apparently no consciousness of history in [Foreign Minister] Heiko Maas.”