Operation CHAOS Targeted Chicano Civil Rights Leaders

It wasn’t paranoia. It was federal policy.

On December 22, 2024, the Central Intelligence Agency released a set of declassified documents confirming that Latino civil rights activists were surveilled, monitored, and infiltrated by U.S. intelligence operatives between 1968 and 1983. The files were released through the CIA’s Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room following a formal request by Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Congressman Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), and 35 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The surveillance occurred under Operation CHAOS, a CIA program launched in 1967 during the Johnson administration and expanded under Nixon. Though officially intended to detect foreign influence during the Cold War, the operation turned inward. The targets weren’t foreign actors. They were American citizens—teachers, students, poets, union leaders, and community organizers—advocating for equity in schools, labor rights, and cultural representation.

Among those identified in the records were Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, the Denver-based poet and political organizer known for his epic poem I Am Joaquín, and César Chávez, whose work organizing farmworkers in California made him a national figure. The files show these leaders were monitored for their public speeches, protest activities, and travel—none of which violated any law.

The documents confirm that the CIA also tracked Sal Castro, the educator who supported the 1968 East L.A. Blowouts. These student walkouts—organized to protest unequal treatment of Mexican American students in public schools—were classified as subversive by intelligence officers. Even high school protests became a matter of national surveillance.

The records reveal that the CIA coordinated with the University of Arizona to monitor Chicano students demanding the establishment of Mexican American Studies programs. These efforts, framed by students as educational inclusion, were categorized by the agency as political agitation. Operatives attended student meetings and filed reports on campus activism throughout Arizona, California, and Colorado.

The agency’s tactics mirrored those used by the FBI under COINTELPRO, which targeted Black civil rights leaders during the same era. The pattern was consistent: infiltrate, report, and disrupt. In the case of the Latino civil rights movement, this meant embedding agents in student groups, tracking cultural conferences, and surveilling grassroots leaders who were pushing for change through legal, nonviolent means.

One such group monitored by the agency was the Brown Berets, a Chicano youth organization known for protesting police brutality and organizing free health clinics. Despite their focus on community service, the group was labeled as radical and subjected to government surveillance.

What the documents show is not only who was targeted—but how. The CIA compiled names, tracked associations, monitored public events, and categorized peaceful protest as potential subversion. These weren’t security risks. They were people demanding fair wages, better schools, bilingual education, and a voice in how they were governed.

So, what was the CIA looking for?

The agency claimed its mission under Operation CHAOS was to detect foreign involvement in domestic dissent—especially possible ties to Cuba, the Soviet Union, or radical political parties. It was framed as a Cold War counterintelligence effort.

But what they actually documented were student demands for bilingual education, peaceful protests, cultural conferences, and public speeches. None of the records released show evidence of foreign control or coordination.

This gap between what the CIA said it was searching for and what it actually surveilled has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers and historians. It reveals that Latino civil rights advocacy was treated as inherently suspicious, even in the absence of foreign ties or any unlawful activity.

So, five administrations—three Republican, two Democratic—were in power while Latino civil rights activists were being monitored. The surveillance began under Johnson, was expanded under Nixon, and continued into the early Reagan years.

Many of the released documents remain partially redacted. Pages are blacked out, names are withheld, and entire paragraphs are obscured. The CIA has released its portion of the records, but the FBI has not. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is now calling on the FBI to declassify its own files related to domestic surveillance of Latino civil rights leaders.

These are not abstract revelations. These are pieces of a much larger truth—that the U.S. government actively worked to contain and discredit Latino political empowerment.

The files are available to the public through the CIA’s FOIA Electronic Reading Room at cia.gov/readingroom. They confirm what generations of activists suspected: the government was listening, watching, and interfering.

The activists weren’t armed. They were organized.

And that, apparently, was enough to trigger the government.

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2025 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.