Orlando Letelier. Allende's foreign minister, murdered in central Washington DC 35 years ago this week

Exactly 35 years ago, an audacious assassination occurred just a stone's throw from the White House. Orlando Letelier, a former Chilean government minister, was murdered when his car exploded in Washington DC's embassy district.

Letelier was foreign minister in the cabinet of Chile's first Socialist president, Salvador Allende. But when the government was overthrown in Augusto Pinochet's military coup in 1973, Letelier was one of the first to be arrested.

An FBI investigation revealed that the assassination had been orchestrated by agents of Dina, the Chilean secret police, led by an American called Michael Townley. They hired right-wing Cuban militants to carry out this hit.

Two days before the explosion they had taped a remote-controlled bomb underneath the car.

Although CIA evidence showed the Chilean leader had direct knowledge of the assassination, Pinochet was never charged.....