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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Orlando Letelier.md
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@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Townley was expelled from [[Chile]] in 1978, pleaded guilty, and testified for t
### Compensation
The families sued Chile in 1978. Chile defaulted, and Judge [[Joyce Hens Green]] entered judgment in 1980 for more than five million dollars. They then tried to collect from the [[New York City|New York]] assets of the state airline, [[LAN Chile]], which the district court found had carried Townley, his explosives, and his money. Judge [[Morris Lasker]] called Chile's use of the airline a "gross abuse of the corporate form." The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit]] reversed him on November 20, 1984, finding only that "Michael Townley was able to enlist the cooperation of certain LAN pilots and officials with whom he had a pre-existing social relationship," and added that "hard cases make bad law." After Pinochet left office the two governments agreed on June 11, 1990, that Chile, "without admitting liability," would make an ex gratia payment to be fixed by a commission under a treaty of 1914. The commission awarded 2,611,892 dollars on January 11, 1992: 1.2 million to Isabel Letelier and her four sons for lost support, with 160,000 to her and 80,000 to each of them in moral damages, 483,000 to [[Michael Moffitt]], and 300,000 to Ronni Moffitt's parents. It excluded Letelier's income from lectures and publications and "took into account the significant steps undertaken by the Chilean Government and Congress to remedy human rights problems." The payment extinguished all other claims.[^11]
The families sued Chile in 1978. Chile defaulted, and Judge [[Joyce Hens Green]] entered judgment on November 5, 1980, for more than five million dollars. Townley, Ross, and Ignacio Novo had been in default since September 20, 1978, and Guillermo Novo since October 24; Contreras, Espinoza, and Fernández Larios, served by registered mail in 1978 and by letters rogatory on September 22, 1980, were defaulted on October 23. The judgment against Chile, Contreras, Espinoza, Fernández, Townley, Ross, and Guillermo Novo, jointly and severally, included 30,000 dollars for Letelier's pain and suffering, one million in punitive damages, and 1,526,479 dollars in wrongful death, and for Ronni Moffitt 80,000, one million, and 916,096 dollars. They then tried to collect from the [[New York City|New York]] assets of the state airline, [[LAN Chile]], which the district court found had carried Townley, his explosives, and his money. Judge [[Morris Lasker]] called Chile's use of the airline a "gross abuse of the corporate form." The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit|Second Circuit]] reversed him on November 20, 1984, finding only that "Michael Townley was able to enlist the cooperation of certain LAN pilots and officials with whom he had a pre-existing social relationship," and added that "hard cases make bad law." After Pinochet left office the two governments agreed on June 11, 1990, that Chile, "without admitting liability," would make an ex gratia payment to be fixed by a commission under a treaty of 1914. The commission awarded 2,611,892 dollars on January 11, 1992: 1.2 million to Isabel Letelier and her four sons for lost support, with 160,000 to her and 80,000 to each of them in moral damages, 483,000 to [[Michael Moffitt]], and 300,000 to Ronni Moffitt's parents. It excluded Letelier's income from lectures and publications and "took into account the significant steps undertaken by the Chilean Government and Congress to remedy human rights problems." The payment extinguished all other claims.[^11]
### The 1987 Assessment
@ -58,5 +58,5 @@ In 1987 Secretary of State [[George Shultz]] asked the CIA to assess responsibil
[^8]: De Letelier v. Republic of Chile, 488 F. Supp. 665 (D.D.C. 1980).
[^9]: Kornbluh, Peter, ed. "'Worst of the Worst': ICE and the Case of Chilean Intelligence Operative Armando Fernandez Larios," National Security Archive, July 10, 2026. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/chile/2026-07-10/worst-worst-ice-and-case-chilean-intelligence-operative-armando
[^10]: United States v. Henry, 447 U.S. 264 (1980).
[^11]: De Letelier v. Republic of Chile, 748 F.2d 790 (2d Cir. 1984); "Dispute Concerning Responsibility for the Deaths of Letelier and Moffitt (United States, Chile)," decision of January 11, 1992, *Reports of International Arbitral Awards,* vol. XXV, pp. 1-19. https://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_XXV/1-19.pdf
[^11]: *Letelier v. Republic of Chile,* 502 F. Supp. 259 (D.D.C. 1980), memorandum opinion of November 5, 1980. De Letelier v. Republic of Chile, 748 F.2d 790 (2d Cir. 1984); "Dispute Concerning Responsibility for the Deaths of Letelier and Moffitt (United States, Chile)," decision of January 11, 1992, *Reports of International Arbitral Awards,* vol. XXV, pp. 1-19. https://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_XXV/1-19.pdf
[^12]: Kornbluh, Peter, ed. "CIA: 'Pinochet personally ordered' Letelier bombing," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 560, September 23, 2016. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/chile/2016-09-23/cia-pinochet-personally-ordered-letelier-bombing ; "The Pinochet File: U.S. Declassifies Missing Documents in the Letelier-Moffitt Case," Electronic Briefing Book No. 532, October 8, 2015.