Even for Jesse Helms, the words were extreme. On a visit to Chile, the North Carolina Republican Senator accused U.S. Ambassador Harry Barnes of "planting the American flag in the midst of Communist activity." If President Reagan knew of the situation, Helms claimed, "he would send the Ambassador home." After returning to Washington last week, Helms charged that the State Department and Barnes were "trying to appease a bunch of leftists and Communists" by pushing for democratic reforms from the four-man military junta led by General Augusto Pinochet. Chile under Pinochet, said Helms, was moving toward "a stable, productive democracy."
The...