Hortencia Busia de Allende, widow of the late Chilean president, last night called the present military junta of Chile a "regime which violates all human rights," and praised Americans who worked to "unmask U.S. aggression in Chile."
Speaking at the Law School Forum, Allende gave a detailed description of CIA involvement in the 1973 coup to an audience of over 900 people, and said that CIA activities "stimulate fascist governments which threaten democracy and consequently world peace."
Warm Response
The audience responded warmly to Allende, greeting her with a standing ovation and interrupting her frequently with applause.
Allende said by declaring that the U.S. policy of intervention was in the best interests of the Chilean people and the United States, President Ford "proclaimed the right of the U.S. to intervene by any method in the affairs of this hemisphere."
"One can only conclude that the true objective of the CIA was to protect the interests of multinational companies," she said, adding that the U.S. government is the only one that gives military and financial support to the junta.
American Accomplices
"The North American people cannot continue as accomplices to a policy which will ultimately hurt them," she said. "They must work to end all aid to the junta and to reinstate human rights in Chile."
Allende warned that "when fascism is flushed from our country we will absolutely reject any pacts or treaties which the military junta makes."
She called the junta a puppet government of the imperialists," comparing the methods it uses to silence opposition to those used by the Nazis.
Allende, who is on a short tour of the United States, spoke through an interpreter.
Donations for Chilean refugees and "clandestine operations which are working to reinstate democracy in Chile" were collected during a short question-and-answer period following her speech.
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