◆ SpookStack

S ET/ I truly desired. Hardly anyone believed that the Marxists would allow the democratic forces to regain power in 1976, so the March el ection results seemed to end the political. option and helped to convince the military that they must act, in spite of great reluctance to do' so, before the Marxist process became irreversible During late March and early April, Headquarters and the .Santiago Station carried on a dia$'ogO'e about what our objectives should be over the next six to twelve month period. He considered several options. One was to withdraw our financial support to the democratic opposition or to ma inta'in it at a minimum I evel only in order to retain intel'I igence access. Another option was to undertake an action program designed to provoke military intervention At that time ther e seemed I ittl e I ikel ihood of a successful mi I ital y coup, but there did appear to be a goo'd possibil ity. that incr easing unrest in the entire country might induc'e the military to reenter the All ende government in order to restore or der and to insure that the 1976 el ections were hei'd honestly and on schedule, , Various proposals for supporting the private sector were examined in this context, but the Ambassador and the Department of State remained opposed to any support. , of private'sector groups because of the increasingly high level of tension in ChiIe and because. these groups were known to hope for military intervention. The final option 'to continue our previous policy of support to the democratic political opposition in the. hope that free elections could be ZZ .-. 4,.~e~L