The Foreign Service Journal, December 2003

“security guards” without registering the reality that many of them were Cuban military or security bully boys sent to assist the hard-core Marxists in the Allende administration turn Chile into a communist dictatorship. These members of the GAP (Grupo de Amigos del Presidente) were def- initely not agrarian reformers. Gedda also fails even to hint at another unpalatable reality. The Chilean Army’s coup was widely sup- ported by the Chilean people when it occurred. In fact, former Christian Democrat President Eduardo Frei, former Radical President Gabriel Gonzales Videla, and another senior party politician whose name escapes me published a letter to Pinochet in the aftermath of the coup thanking him for saving Chile from a Marxist dictatorship and civil war. None of the above justifies the subsequent human rights violations of the Pinochet regime. By the same token, these same violations do not justify the subsequent rewriting of history by the media pack. It was just more complicated than their received wisdom. Tom Boyatt Ambassador, retired McLean, Va. ■ Correction : Retired FSO Yale Richmond’s latest book, Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: Raising the Iron Curtain (Penn State University Press, 2003), was included in our annual roundup of books by FS authors, “In their Own Write,” in the November issue of the Journal (p. 31). Unfortunately, the publisher of Mr. Richmond’s previous books was misidentified. From Nyet to Da: Understanding the Russians was pub- lished in 2002 by Intercultural Press, and From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans was published in 1995 by Intercultural Press. We regret the error. D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 L E T T E R S korman communities arlington CORPORATE SUITES arlington, va 880 north pollard street 866.korman.4 : kormancommunities.com live better. brand new luxury high rise : fully appointed one, one bed- room dens and two bedroom corporate suites : state of the art fitness and business centers : heated outdoor lap pool : custom made mahogany furniture : fully equipped kitchens : luxury towels and linens : soft, firm or hypoallergenic pil- low selection : weekday club breakfast serving Starbucks ® Coffee : afternoon Tazo ® Tea : digital premium cable and high speed internet : 27” and 20” sony wega tv and dvd : sony cd stereo : free local phone : on-site management, maintenance, housekeeping : concierge services : walking distance to ballston common mall, ballston and virginia square metro stops