The family of a murdered Chilean general plans to file suit against Henry Kissinger, alleging the general’s kidnapping in 1970 was ordered by President Nixon and Kissinger, the TV show “60 Minutes” said yesterday.
Relatives of Gen. Rene Schneider said that recently declassified government documents support their claim that the CIA organized his abduction at the direction of Nixon and Kissinger, who was the president’s national security adviser.
The CIA has acknowledged the White House asked it to prevent the election of leftist Salvador Allende as president, possibly by military coup.
In October 1970, just before the election, soldiers seized Schneider – the commander of the Chilean army – in the first step of an attempted coup.
They shot him when he reached for his revolver.
“I always wanted to put all this behind me but we have a duty to humanity to speak about this,” his son, Rene Schneider Jr., told “60 Minutes” in a report airing Sunday night.