Washington-Style Aggression
"ON THE OTHER SIDE IS THE FOREIGN aggressor who, as an act of revenge or misinformation, is trying to aid those who are committing treason against the fatherland. To do this the foreign...
...The unnamed "foreign aggressor" was none other than his erstwhile ally, the United States...
...In contrast to their earlier criti- cism of NED, congressional liberals such as Sen...
...Another $1.2 million was granted by AID to the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Center for Electoral Assist- ance and Promotion (CAPEL), a group affiliated with the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights...
...One million dollars will be spent by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which received the money from Congress via the U.S...
...But like NED, AID is unwilling to provide details in order to protect the Chileans involved, it says...
...Designed by Congress in 1983 to promote U.S.-style democracy abroad, the NED has been controversial from its inception...
...Gen...
...In question are U.S...
...subsidies to the tune of $22 million to Chile's opposition and multi-party coalitions promoting voter registration and education...
...Execu- tive Vice President Ken Wollock says his National Demo- cratic Institute (NDI), chaired by Walter Mondale, does non-partisan political development work abroad, designed to support "new and fragile democracies in emerging countries...
...At presstime NED was unwilling to confirm details of the package, though reliable sources indicate that some $600,000 is earmarked for the Committee for Free Elections headed by Christian Democrat Sergio Molina...
...In Chile, CAPEL is working with the Catholic-sponsored Funda- ci6n Civitas to provide non-partisan voter education...
...The committee also received $135,000 in 1987 to conduct an opinion poll...
...Created along with NED in 1983 were two institutes linked to the Republican and Democratic parties...
...Wollock believes NDI's 1985 Washington conference on "Democracy in South America" was pivotal in promoting unity within the Chilean opposition, a process which led to the National Accord...
...Agency for International Development and the U.S...
...To do this the foreign aggressor is spending millions of dollars, which is unacceptable interference, and which I am sure our people thoroughly reject...
...Tom Harkin sponsored this package...
...Hernin Felipe Errazuriz, Santiago's envoy in Washington, said the allocation "jeopardizes [our] clean electoral process" while the daily El Mercurio found the "economic interference ...regrettable...
...The National Republican Institute's first Chile project is a nationwide opinion poll in conjunc- tion with the Conservative think-tank Centro de Estudios Publicos...
...Other beneficiaries of the $1 million allocation are reportedly a Church-sponsored registration campaign, the opposition press and sectors of the labor movement...
...Pinochet was not describing the Soviet Union in his New Year's address to the nation last January...
...Information Agency, which is responsible for monitoring the program...
...Last summer the institute sent a team of experts to provide technical as- sistance on polling and voter registration to the Campaign for Free Elections...
Vol. 22 • March 1988 • No. 2
