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| Operation Toucan | |
| Russian | Операция «Тукан» |
|---|---|
| Romanization | Operation Toucan |
| IPA | Russian pronunciation:[ɐpʲɪˈrat͡sɨjətʊˈkan] |
Operation TOUCAN was aKGB/DGI public relations and disinformation campaign directed at the military government ofChile led byAugusto Pinochet, particularly theDirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA). The plot's twofold task was to organize sympathetic human rights activists to pressure theUnited Nations and generate negative press for the Pinochet regime. According to former KGB officerVasili Mitrokhin, the plot was originally conceived byYuri Vladimirovich Andropov. It was approved on August 10, 1976.[1][2]
As part of operation TOUCAN, the KGB forged a letter tying the CIA to anassassination campaign by Chile's DINA and many journalists, including columnistJack Anderson of theNew York Times, used this information in their news stories as evidence of the CIA's involvement in the more nefarious parts ofOperation Condor.
The KGB forged letters from Manuel Contreras, DINA's director, to Pinochet, which were accepted as genuine by the newspaper and other major news outlets in the West.[1] One of these included a letter "sent" by Contreras to Pinochet detailing a plan to neutralize the opposition figures living inMexico,Argentina,Costa Rica,France,Italy, and theUnited States.[3]
When the operation ended, it was marked "particularly successful in publicizing and exaggerating DINA's foreign operations against left wing Chilean exiles."[1]
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