Assassination on Embassy Row

by John Dinges, John Dinges, Saul Landau

The gripping account of an assassination on US soil and the violent foreign conspiracy that stretched from Pinochet’s Chile to the streets of Washington, DC, with a new introduction by Ariel Dorfman 

On September 10, 1976, exiled Chilean leader Orlando Letelier delivered a blistering rebuke of Augusto Pinochet’s brutal right-wing regime in a speech at Madison Square Garden. Eleven days later, while Letelier was on Embassy Row in Washington, DC, a bomb affixed to the bottom of his car exploded, killing him and his coworker Ronni Moffitt. The slaying, staggering in its own right, exposed an international conspiracy that reached well into US territory. Pinochet had targeted Letelier, a former Chilean foreign minister and ambassador to the United States, and carried out the attack with the help of Operation Condor, the secret alliance of South America’s military dictatorships dedicated to wiping out their most influential opponents.

This gripping account tells the story not only of a political plot that ended in murder, but also of the FBI’s inquiry into the affair. Definitive in its examination both of Letelier’s murder and of the subsequent investigations carried out by American intelligence, Assassination on Embassy Row is equal parts keen analysis and true-life spy thriller.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Crime, Politics, Conspiracy Theories, The United States Of America

602 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

I am a journalist who writes mostly about Latin America, dictators, intelligence agencies (usually secret ones) and human rights. I have a previous career as a theologian--not incompatible with journalism. I am the Godfrey Lowell Cabot professor of international journalism at Columbia University. Previously I worked for the Washington Post and NPR (as foreign editor and managing editor at the latter.) Current writing: democracy and media in Latin America.
I founded the nonprofit Center for Investigation and Information (CIINFO), which runs projects on investigative journalism in Latin America. Founded the Chilean on-line media organization CIPER (www.ciperchile.cl). Currently run ArchivosChile (www.archivoschile.org).

Reviews

[John Dinges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please note this book has been released in a 2014 ebook edition, with an introduction by Ariel Dorfman and a postscript by coauthor John Dinges to update the story.

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable reconstruction of the most brazen crime committed by Augusto Pinochet’s Chile: the assassination by car bomb of Orlando Letelier (and an American friend) in Washington, DC on Embassy Row, amidst the diplomatic representatives of dozens of countries. Dinges (an American journalist who covered, and was briefly imprisoned by Pinochet’s regime) and Landau (human rights activist and friend to Letelier) meticulously recreate the plot against Letelier, born of the multinational Operation Condor (a conspiracy of right-wing governments in South American to exterminate political dissidents) and carried out by a conspiracy of Chilean secret police, rightist Cuban exiles, European fascists and an American adventurer named Michael Townley. It’s one of those stranger-than-fiction stories that’s shockingly faded from public memory; the image of a nominal American ally committing acts of terror against its benefactor, however, seems painfully familiar.

[Adrienne Servis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recall of this account was truly amazing. Since I am much younger than when this book first came out, I have learned a great deal and am glad to have gained this knowledge. I recommend this book for those who enjoy history and want to improve current situations around the globe. Thank you for the opportunity to read this.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually have trouble finishing non-fiction books, but this completely held my attention from start to finish. Gives a fascinating, detailed description of the events that led up to the assassination of Orlando Letilier in Washington, DC, the assassination itself, and the long investigation and trial. Dinges gives a clear picture of the US-backed overthrow of the democratically-elected Allende government in Chile by Pinochet's military junta, the formation and terror of the Chile secret police, DINA, that killed, imprisoned and "disappeared" opponents to Pinochet's rule. All the key players were described, not quite like a novel would, but in enough detail I did have a sense of what they were like; Allende, Pinochet, Letelier, his wife, Isabel, Michael Townley, the assassin, his wife, the horrible head of DINA, Contreras, the Cuban nationals who assisted in the assassination, and then the FBI agents and lawyers who were involved with the investigation and trial. I learned so much and was inspired to do other research on Allende, Pinochet, Contreras, Letilier, Townley, Condor. Dinges poses thought-provoking questions in the Epilogue, and then answers some of them in the 2014 Postscript. The US could have prevented the assassination and the CIA did withhold information. Excellent journalism and telling of a story that is not complimentary to America's history. The truth is worth knowing.

[Bud Theisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best when combined with Eugene Popper's Labyrinth

[Matthew Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling and well written look into right wing state sanctioned terror operative under the umbrella of the CIA’s covert Operation Condor to battle Soviet influence in Latin America.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather stunning when you're not familiar with this piece of American history...

[Ese Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un triste testimonio de la articulación golpista para minimizar el castigo frente a su felonía con la ayuda de la CIA, para sorpresa de nadie.

[Martha Mccarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endlessly fascinating—this procession of characters, marching to the impetus of their own ideology, some in pursuit of human dignity, others possessed by a lust for power, and still more, Machiavellian in their devotion to riches and prestige. Obviously, authors Dinges and Landau shared their own devotion: Passion for investigation, fidelity to facts, and mastery of craft.

With that, they are not mere messengers, nor are readers mere observers. We are taken, transported to international political arenas and into the lives of the players—from a hotel room where a novice assassin builds a bomb with kitchen utensils and household tools, to the squalor and atrocities of a Chilean prison camp and to offices and homes of highest-level officials and diplomats. As if we are insiders, we are privy to clandestine meetings, private dinners and invitation-only parties. Ultimately, to an unconscionable act of terrorism on Washington, D.C.’s Embassy Row. In all, this is a vivid reflection—often grotesque—in the mirror of humankind.

Bypass Mark Crispin Miller’s excessive (thereby ineffective) opening rant. Read Ariel Dorfman’s poignant introductory vignette. Go deep into the book’s shocking realities and far-ranging implications. For Dinges, intense investigation did not end here. He’s later known for Our Man in Panama and The Condor Years. Read all.

[Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and edited account of a complex investigation. To secure a conviction in the Letelier bombing, the U.S. Justice Dept. agreed not to investigate the other crimes of DINA, Chile's secret police. The CIA also helped to conceal evidence. This would explain be why the case of the 1976 SC Mystery Couple was never officially resolved.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched

Well written and extremely detailed. This book took time to digest and understand. Learning how the US interacts with countries and how we impact them should be taken into account in today's society.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

the murder of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier by
Chilean intelligence in Washington, D.C.

[Alfredo De villa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's shocking that outright terrorism occurred right outside the Chilean embassy in Washington DC, by direct order of Augusto Pinochet.