The Foreign Service Journal, April 2023

12 APRIL 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL management deducts AFSA dues from the paychecks of AFSA members and remits these funds to AFSA every two weeks. Checkoff has made AFSA a financial powerhouse. Solidarity forever. Tom Boyatt Ambassador, retired Troy, Virginia Setting the Record Straight on Chile, Again Elizabeth C. Davis’ letter in the January- February FSJ , “Setting the Record Straight on Chile, ” was a needed corrective. One of the left’s enduring myths is that the United States was behind the planning and execu- tion of General Augusto Pinochet’s 1973 coup that overthrew the government of Salvador Allende. Unfortunately, that false narrative has penetrated much mainstream thinking, as well. I would like to add a couple of thoughts on the subject. As was brought out in Senator Frank Church’s 1975 Senate hearings on the CIA’s intelligence activities, the CIA did provide $8 million over a three-year period to various opposition groups in Chile to keep them going, including labor unions, the anti-Allende newspaper El Mercurio (which Allende was attempt- ing to shut down by having the nation- alized banks withhold credit for news- print), and others. Nevertheless, the U.S. provided neither funding nor assistance in the planning and execution of the coup. Anyone who has served in Chile and studied the 1973 coup would find it laughable to hear someone insist that the Chilean military would need assis- tance from the United States. The Chilean military was based on the Prussian model, was (and is) a very professional military, and was perfectly capable of planning and executing the coup on its own. That the United States was glad to see Allende overthrown is undeniable. It does not follow, however, that the United States engineered the action that led to his over- throw. The left’s narrative of U.S. involve- ment in General Pinochet’s coup in Chile is one more example of the mental and ideological prison in which it dwells. WilliamH. Barkell FSO, retired Arlington, Virginia Retirement 101 Those who write complaining about the Foreign Service retirement program today and the (perceived) reduction in benefits must not be aware of any busi- nesses outside of government service. (See, for example, Tanya Brothen’s November 2022 letter, “Retirement for the Rest of Us. ”) Traditional (defined benefit) pension plans have been phased out in every kind of industry all over the United States. Programs such as 401ks and 403bs as well as IRAs and the federal government’s own Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) are taking over as traditional pensions are eliminated. These are called collectively “defined contribu- tion plans.” Not many people work for the same company their whole lives, which is how the traditional pension plan worked for our grandparents. Tax-deferred savings plans can move with the worker from employer to employer. There is no vesting period; your money saved is your money no matter how long or short your employ- ment with any company or agency. The defined benefit plan pensioner can elect survivor benefits, but this reduces Share your thoughts about this month’s issue. Submit letters to the editor: journal@afsa.org the payout from day one to the death of the spouse, and it’s a gamble either way. Defined contribution plans have a with- drawal rate that is set by the federal gov- ernment. You don’t have to spend all of the withdrawal, and you can take out more if you need to. It does not matter if you are married, single, paired, or widowed. I recommend that today’s FSOs become financially knowledgeable, stop complaining, and start contributing the maximum allowed into the TSP, and also open an IRA or, even better, a Roth IRA. Nancy Cunningham FSO, retired Savannah, Georgia Classified Documents While people focus on classified docu- ments retained by President Biden and other high-level officials, past and present, perhaps there is a simple explanation. An esteemed retired ambassador once men- tioned to me that, on leaving a particular post in 1981, he asked his secretary to gather some documents for a book he planned to write. In retirement, he opened a box including the documents and was astounded to find Top Secret SCI items included. He concluded that his secretary had been in a hurry. Perhaps this also explains President Biden’s situation today. Frederic Maerkle FSO, retired Paris, France n