23 October 1970 TRACK I ' II Situation Yesterday morning at 0815 hours unidentified gunmen shot and seriously wounded Chilean Army Comznander General Rene Schneider He 'was rushed to a military hospital for 'emergency surgery An Army high command communique said he was in serious condition and the latest medical bull'etin last evening stated his condition had worsened and that he would have to undergo further surgery The shooting came just 48 hours before Congress was to' vote on confirming Salvador Allende as President As a result of this assassination attempt the following developments have taken place in the past 24 hours ' II Develo ments A General Carlos Prats assumed the position of Army CINC B General Caznilo Valenzuela assuzned the position of Jefe de Plaza for law and order in Santiago Province C State of emergency declared D Armed Forces throughout and Carabineros Chile confined to barracks' E Military given responsibility attempt F Rigid curfew imposed G ' All exits from Santiago under close control assassination DeclassiTied and Approved for Release July 2000 for investigating the Continued next page II Continued TRACK H Information media instructed not to publish or ' broadcast information which could alarm or incite the public I Retired General Emilio Cheyre designated Chief of' Investigations and Socialist 'R e n e Paredes pro-Allende named Sub -D ir e ctor J The UP issued a statement blaming the attack on rightists supported by foreign elements K Chilean Confederation of Workers 'called an emergency meeting to discuss the assault on Schneider L afternoon Technical Students planned a demonstration M Government investigating in Chile for'yesterday recent arrival of foreigners N General Viaux retired Lt Col Jose Cabrera 'and six unidentified persons including members of Patria' Libertad reportedly have been arrested ' O The three Armed Forces Commanders in Chief General Prats Admiral Tirado and General Guerraty issued a communique condemning the attack on Schneider and announcing their support for the constitution asked P Allende met with President Frei yesterday afternoon and Frei to adopt drastic measures to crush a seditious plan Q General Valenzuela addressed the nation over radio last evening concerning measures to be taken under the' state of emergency Continued next page II TRACK Continued R President Frei spoke ovei nationwide radio expressing his profound indignation over the attempted assassination and explained the steps taken under the state of emergency III Anal sis With only Z4 hours remaining before the Congressional run-off a coup climate exists in Chile The assassination attempt against General Rene Schneider has set off a train of events that has started Chileans talking about a coup and has raised the expectation that something significant will occur today The attack on General Schneider has produced developments which closely follow Valenzuela's plan Schneider-has been removed state of-emergency-has-been declared General Prats has replaced General Schneider radicals Eave been arrested and Geneial Valenzuela ha5 assumed control of Santia o Province the plotters m'ay have secon ey oug s a out a coup nonetheless are irrevocably committed to executing the ploteven if Frei refuses to resign — since it can be assumed that their' plotting would eventually surface under an Allende government Hence they have no alternative but to move ahead Although The state of emergency and the establishment of martial law has significantly improved the plotters position a coup climate now prevails in Chile and military officers have replaced civilians at the provincial level This condition greatly inhibits any future effort by Allende t'o counteract the coup ' The next step in Valenzuela's Continued next page TRACK II Continued plan which is the most important one calls for the resignation of Frei and his cabinet Thus far President Frei shows no indication that he intends to resign If Valenzuela has advised Frei of his plan and Frei has concurred then Frei certainly would be 'compelled to resign Should Frei not be advised - as appears to be the casea confrontation between the plotters and Frei can be 'expected before the Congress meets tomorrow This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu Read related article CIA ‘Effect the Removal of Schneider’ 2020-10-22