Celedón Calls for Full Transparency Following Adriana Rivas’ Extradition and Demands Australia Open Intelligence Files on U.S. Role in the Coup

Following the ruling sealing the extradition of Adriana Rivas, a former DINA agent and key aide to Manuel ‘Mamo’ Contreras, Deputy Roberto Celedón (Ind.) urged the Australian government to release its intelligence files related to the role played by the United States (U.S.) in the coup d’état against President Salvador Allende in September 1973, which marked the onset of the military dictatorship.

After years of evasion, judicial delays, and a flight from Chile in 2010, the Australian Federal Court dismissed on Tuesday the appeal made by the defense of the accused, known by the alias «La Chani,» which sought to challenge the Australian government’s decision to authorize her extradition to face justice in Chile for her role in kidnappings, torture, and disappearances during the regime of Augusto Pinochet.

Specifically, Rivas is facing prosecution for the cases “Conferencia I”, “Conferencia II” and the “Reinalda Pereira” incident, as a co-author of serious crimes including the qualified kidnapping of communist militants such as Reinalda Pereira—who was five months pregnant at the time of her detention—Fernando Navarro, Lincoyán Berríos, Horacio Cepeda, Juan Fernando Ortiz, Héctor Véliz, and Víctor Díaz. All of them were tortured and disappeared.

Celedón: «Australia Must Declassify Its Intelligence Files»

The parliamentarian for the Maule Region emphasized that the Australian court’s ruling “opens a concrete opportunity, both to advance in clarifying the cases of the missing detainees during the dictatorship and to strengthen the search.”

The extradition of Adriana Rivas opens a concrete opportunity to advance in clarifying the cases of the missing detainees and strengthen the search.

I insist that Australia must declassify its intelligence files regarding how they assisted the U.S. in the coup…

— Roberto Celedón Fernández (@RobertoCeledonF) April 7, 2026

«I insist that Australia must declassify its intelligence files related to how they contributed to the U.S. involvement in the coup in Chile,» Celedón remarked in a message shared on his profile on the social network X.

Australian Spies Collaborated with the CIA in Intervention Against Allende

It is worth noting that in 2021, the U.S. National Security Archive declassified a series of documents revealing the collaboration Australia provided to the CIA to support the U.S. intervention in Chile.

According to the documents, in 1971, during the early months of President Salvador Allende’s government, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), at the request of the CIA, opened a secret office in Santiago to conduct “covert espionage operations,” showcasing “the multinational effort to destabilize the government of the Popular Unity.”

A group of equipment and undercover agents from Australia arrived in the capital.

During the operation, which lasted for 18 months, the spies interacted with Chilean informants recruited by the U.S. and drafted intelligence reports that were sent directly to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

The agents exited the country entirely after the coup on September 11, 1973, which led to 17 years of dictatorship marked by murders, disappearances, and torture.

At that time, the government of liberal Billy McMahon (1971-1972) had been replaced by the administration of labor leader Edward Gough Whitlam (1972-73), who ordered the director of Australia’s intelligence services to terminate operations in Chile.

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