spy novels or political thrillers like John Le Carré, Assasination on The Day of the Jackat,. ference - it's all true. takes a pre-publication look. ON 9 September 1976, a tall, fair-haired man in his thirties arrived Kennedy Airport in New York an* official Chilean • passport. The passport gave his name as Hans Petersen Silva.
The -name was false, just one of a string pseudonyms used the man in question.
His real name was Michael Vernon Townley, by birth an American. He had arrived to organise mne assassinanon the exiled Orlando Letelier, WIllO been A Hende's ambassador to the •owinev was an agent of the external section of the DINA Chilean secret police. OVER Christmas thousands of people will spend some of their holiday time reading - writers Richard Ludlum, and Frederick Forsyth will be coining it in. But in the New Year a political thriller, Embassy Row, published in Britain every bit as thrilling as but, with one difSocialist Challenge into the air. .The explosion came upwards from below the at omvers serd Search Michael Moffit jumped out of the car with minor injuries. He rushed to the front of the car. Letelier's legs were of blown off; Ronni bleeding badly by died in hospital. Michael kept running around The fascists killed DINA killed him.
The murder of Letelier set off an extraordinary search for the murderers brought to light the activities DINA's. top hit Michae Vernon The FBI took over the case, while the IPS launched its own investigation.
Ronni Moffitt :The CIA was less than fully co-operative. As the vestigation progressed it ed to hand i or tean oo rer vie e vis ee srupting its rela tionship with the secret police forces in reactionary parts of 17 December 1980 will be Pinochet Latin America.
The official view in the CIA and at the State Department was that Letelier probably been bumped off by leftists to This was the press ana. ll recelvea a goo0 Among was articles sue arel Inls view shouting: Newsweek:
him, other field investigations, ATLeT ATLe CIA has concluded that the which involved Orlando Letelier... "The Townley. • llall. decision was too crude to be the work • of experts and because the murder, coming while Chile's rulers were wooing US support, could only damage the Santiago regime.
Newsweek
every count. Far from being a crude device, the detonated bomb which killed Letelier piece of was electronic an work: At 36, its maker was a veteran assassin.
Michael Townley's family moved to Chile when he was twelve. In developed an interest in electonics. -and worked Tor salesman for the notorious InVeSLUS Oversea (IOS) getting a rich living sell111- stocks Chile until anti-lOS legislain- tion in the States prevented fail- American citizens buying stocks and shares.
When Allende power Townley left the country and went back to the United States, Anti-Castro help destabilising government. Michael Vernon Townley mixing in Cuban exile circles in Florida. day.
Cuban exiles
were to be his accomplices in murdering Letelier. But even.tually he went back to Chile, after contacting the CIA, to the task of the left-wing SCUICI Southern™ the plan of campaign for the •fils ornce, in DINA's luxury block in Santiago, was munication with Pinochet.
they hatched 'Operation Condor'.
Condor was conceived as a joint operation between the DOTCCKCES Sout-ern one countries of the to facilitate teresting. henote 1 ownle went to the United States the Chilean regime persuaded the Paraguayan government to ask the Americans for two diplomatic passports for 'Chilean army officers'. The story was that they couldn't use Chilean passports for their special 'diplomatic mis sion'.
American officials
Paraguay were suspicious of this strange request and pass ed on details of the two people for whom passports were required (Townley and an ac cono cer o uc CIA.'Whel diplomatic" passport the CIA kniew that he and his colficers' whom . they tials.
In other words the CIA amosı cenmy knew tha Townley was a DINA agen probablv in the Us to carr out a hit. But nothing was Gone. . The matter was refer red eventually to the then director of the CIA, Georg Bush, now vice-president
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