Historical Dictionary of United States Intelligence

ground in a gentle glide of 90 miles per hour, while a mechanic in the

airplane let out a 50-foot steel cable, with a four-finger grapple at the

end. As the aircraft pulled up, the grapple engaged the transfer line,

and the mechanic winched the mail package into the airplane.

The British revised the All American system in September 1943 to

retrieve human beings behind enemy lines. The modified grapple

yanked the transfer line off the ground, and the agent soared off be-

hind the airplane. While the British used the system to retrieve

agents, United States forces occasionally used the method to retrieve

objects, such as downed gliders. During the Korean War, the Cen-

tral Intelligence Agency (CIA) used the system to retrieve agents as

part of Operation Tropic. It modified and adapted the system even

further toward the end of the 1950s, employing it as part of the Sky-

hook systemand Operation Coldfeet.

ALLENDE, SALVADOR (1908–1973). President of Chilefrom 1970

until 1973, when a coup fomented by Chilean military officers, who

were backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), ousted him

from office. Prior to his presidency, Allende served as minister in a

previous government and was for a time chairman of the Chilean

Senate. He ran for president of Chile three times and succeeded in

1970 as leader of the Unidad Popular coalition party.

The U.S. government, along with American commercial interests

in Chile, had long opposed left-leaning politicians and supported the

Chilean Right, especially the Christian Democrats. Declassified doc-

uments show that beginning in 1963 the CIAspent $2.6 million on

propping up the Christian Democratic presidential aspirant, Eduardo

Frei. Allende was a thorn in the sides of both the Christian Democrats

and the CIA, especially because Allende, a physician by profession,

was an ardent Marxist and an outspoken critic of the capitalist sys-

tem. Even before his election, Allende had declared his intention for

far-reaching socialist reforms but was vague about how exactly he

planned to implement them.

President Richard M. Nixonmade his displeasure with Allende’s

prospective election known very early in his administration and in-

structed the CIAto engage in covert actionsto prevent Allende’s elec-

tion. Consequently, the CIAspent an additional $3 million on propa-

ganda activities to turn Chilean voters away from Allende. When that

4•ALLENDE, SALVADOR

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