Condor was and what the intelligence was that the United States government had about it and what it might be carrying out against Letalier.

So you have to put yourself in the State Department and the meeting room where they have the monthly, sometimes more often, meeting between the regional Latin American team at the State Department and the Latin American team of CIA.

They had these regular meetings.

Sometime in late July, CIA reported a bombshell.

They had infiltrated a meeting in Santiago, Chile.

It was actually the second meeting of the countries that had created this alliance called Operation Condor.

They decided at this meeting to actually get serious and to plan training, plan intelligence operations, and plan covert activities, specifically assassination operations inside each other's countries.

John, did Kissinger write about the Letelier assassination in his book, in his memoirs?

John Dingus?

Well, Operation Condor was the effort to kill the elite.

They had basically controlled things inside the countries.

And going internationally was intended to take the anti-Marxist fight worldwide.

It started, it had three phases, first to track down the militants.

And as Peter said, we're not just talking about left-wing revolutionaries.

That was the pretext for the operation.

John Dingus.

And at one point, a member of Pinochet's delegation has a conversation with some American officers who tell him,

I'm not quoting it exactly.

If there's a plan to overthrow the Marxist government, we want you to know that we will support it.

And Pinochet did not tip his hand.

And I'm pretty convinced that at that time he hadn't decided whether he was going to be involved in the coup.

but the U.S. has basically given him the green light.

It was better than ever.

There was the rich neighborhood, the Providencia and Las Condes neighborhoods, and they were overjoyed.