Ghosts of Sheridan Circle : How a Washington Assassination Brought Pinochet's Terror State to Justice

On September 21, 1976, a car bomb killed Orlando Letelier, the former Chilean ambassador to the United States, along with his US colleague Ronni Moffitt. The murder shocked the world, especially because of its setting--Sheridan Circle, in the heart of Washington, D.C. Letelier’s widow and her allies immediately suspected the secret police of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who eliminated opponents around the world. Because US political leaders saw the tyrant as a Cold War ally, they failed to warn him against assassinating Letelier and hesitated to blame him afterward. Government investigators and diplomats, however, pledged to find the killers, defying a monstrous, secretive regime. Was justice attainable? Finding out would take nearly two decades. With interviews from three continents, never-before-used documents, and recently declassified sources that conclude that Pinochet himself ordered the hit and then covered it up, Alan McPherson has produced the definitive history of one of the Cold War’s most consequential assassinations. The Letelier car bomb forever changed counterterrorism, human rights, and democracy. This page-turning real-life political thriller combines a police investigation, diplomatic intrigue, courtroom drama, and survivors’ tales of sorrow and tenacity. "On September 21, 1976, Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. shook from a car bomb explosion, the only act of state-sponsored terrorism in the city's history. The leading opponent of the dictator Augusto Pinochet, former Chilean ambassador to the United States Orlando Letelier, along with a U.S. colleague, Ronni Moffitt, died within minutes of the blast at Sheridan Circle, in the heart of D.C. Authorities determined that the assassination had been planned by DINA, the secret police of Chile. McPherson chronicles the nineteen-year investigation and prosecution of the Letelier case, which pitted Washington's investigative agencies and civil society against recalcitrant U.S. chief executives. The FBI, Department of Justice agents, and mid-level diplomats grew frustrated by the unwillingness of Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan to confront Pinochet, an ally in the Cold War. Pledging to do their jobs, these federal agents allied with activists and with Orlando Letelier's widow, Isabel, to pursue the case no matter where it led--from the prisons of Venezuela, to Cuban-American bars in New Jersey, to the secret police prisons and Supreme Court of Chile. Working on the case from the 1970s to the 1990s, they secured convictions of all the killers of Letelier and Moffitt"-- Provided by publisher "On September 21, 1976, Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. shook from a car bomb explosion, the only act of state-sponsored terrorism in the city's history. The leading opponent of the dictator Augusto Pinochet, former Chilean ambassador to the United States Orlando Letelier, along with a U.S. colleague, Ronni Moffitt, died within minutes of the blast at Sheridan Circle, in the heart of D.C. Authorities determined that the assassination had been planned by DINA, the secret police of Chile. McPherson chronicles the nineteen-year investigation and prosecution of the Letelier case, which pitted Washington's investigative agencies and civil society against recalcitrant U.S. chief executives. The FBI, Department of Justice agents, and mid-level diplomats grew frustrated by the unwillingness of Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan to confront Pinochet, an ally in the Cold War. Pledging to do their jobs, these federal agents allied with activists and with Orlando Letelier's widow, Isabel, to pursue the case no matter where it led--from the prisons of Venezuela, to Cuban-American bars in New Jersey, to the secret police prisons and Supreme Court of Chile. Working on the case from the 1970s to the 1990s, they secured convictions of all the killers of Letelier and Moffitt"-- Fourni par l'éditeur On September 21, 1976, a car bomb killed Orlando Letelier, the former Chilean ambassador to the United States, along with his colleague Ronni Moffitt. The murder shocked the world, especially because of its setting - Sheridan Circle, in the heart of Washington, D.C. Letelier's widow and her allies immediately suspected the secret police of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who eliminated opponents around the world. Because U.S. political leaders saw the tyrant as a Cold War ally, they failed to warn him against assassinating Letelier and hesitated to blame him afterward. Government investigators and diplomats, however, pledged to find the killers, defying a monstrous, secretive regime. Was justice attainable? Finding out would take nearly two decades Dedication Contents Introduction: Such a Safe City Part One: Assassination 1 The Center of Each Other’s World 2 Himmler of the Andes 3 Kill the Bitch and You Finish the Spawn 4 A Rather Unsavory Past 5 Stand Up with Me 6 Some Misguided Sense of Patriotism 7 Homicide Squad Part Two: Investigation 8 CHILBOM 9 Letelier Diplomacy 10 Cueca Sola 11 Events Are Developing at Such a Rapid Pace 12 Prisoners, Survivors, and Judgment Creditors Part Three: Prosecution 13 Cover-Up 14 The Ghost Who Haunts Our Chile Policy 15 No More Lies Are to Be Told 16 Fight until the End 17 I’m Not Going to Any Jail 18 The Fear Is Over Epilogue: Intellectual Authors, 1996–2018 Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index On September 21, 1976, a car bomb killed Orlando Letelier, the former Chilean ambassador to the US, along with his colleague Ronni Moffitt. The murder shocked the world, especially because of its setting - Sheridan Circle, in the heart of Washington. This book offers the definitive history of one of the Cold War's most consequential assassinations.