The foreign ministry of Chile issued an outraged statement on Monday condemning conservative Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after the latter claimed during a presidential election debate the day before that leftist Chilean President Gabriel Boric had “set fire to the Metro,” a reference to riots that gripped the country in 2019.
Bolsonaro made the claim — personally accusing Boric of arson during riots in the nation’s capital, Santiago — during remarks on Sunday attacking his top rival in October’s presidential election, far-left former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for supporting radical leftists throughout the continent.
Gabriel Boric became president of Chile this year after narrowly defeating conservative rival José Antonio Kast in last year’s presidential race. Boric rose to prominence as a student protester and, as a candidate, represented a coalition of parties known as the “Broad Front,” which included the Chilean Communist Party (PC). Boric has personally described himself in the past as “to the left of the PC.” Prior to becoming president, Boric also used Maoist terms such as “the long march” to describe his political faction’s struggle for power.
Chile experienced widespread arson, looting, and violence throughout 2019 following an announcement by pro-China former President Sebastián Piñera’s administration that Santiago would consider raising public transit fares. Leftists went on an arson spree, particularly targeting metro stations and churches (though the Catholic Church played no role in public transit policy), which resulted in considerable destruction to the capital. No evidence exists that Boric was personally involved in any arson attacks at the time and has urged the left to cease its violent campaign since becoming president.
Bolsonaro nonetheless appeared to accuse Boric of acts of arguable terrorism while pillorying Lula in Sunday’s debate.
“Lula supported the president of Chile, who engaged in acts of setting fire to the metro,” Bolsonaro railed during the debate. Bolsonaro also condemned Lula for supporting former guerrilla combatant president of Colombia Gustavo Petro, “who wants to liberate drugs,” and communist dictator Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, “who arrests priests and persecutes nuns.”
Ortega is, in reality, arresting dozens of Catholic clergy members and shutting down Catholic media, which forms the most organized opposition to his authoritarian rule in the country. Petro has also proposed an end to the war on drugs in Colombia, the world’s most prolific cocaine producer, claiming in the past that sugar is “a much more harmful drug” than cocaine.
Lula, one of the most strident leftists to obtain a head-of-state position in modern Latin American history, presided over Brazil between 2003 and 2011, bringing the country into alignment with the dictatorships of Venezuela and Cuba and earning a place as one of former American President Barack Obama’s favorite world leaders. Under his administration, the Brazilian government tolerated a corruption scheme now known as “Operation Car Wash,” in which dozens of politicians from a wide variety of parties received kickbacks from private firms in exchange for lucrative government contracts. Lula himself was convicted of using public funds to buy a vacation property and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but the leftist-controlled Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) overturned his sentence last year, allowing him to run against Bolsonaro.
The Chilean Foreign Ministry issued an incensed statement on Monday condemning Bolsonaro for his insult against Boric and reportedly summoned Brazil’s ambassador to Santiago to protest (Bolsonaro has yet to approve Boric’s ambassador to Brasilia).
“The government of Chile considers that the declarations made against President Gabriel Boric by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a presidential debate yesterday are unacceptable and not consistent with the respectful treatment that heads of state owe each other,” the Foreign Ministry protested, “and with the fraternal relations between two Latin American countries.”
“The political use of the bilateral relationship with electoral ends – on the basis of lies, disinformation, and misrepresentation – erodes not just the ties between our countries but democracy itself, damaging [public] confidence and affecting the brotherhood between peoples,” the statement continued.
“President Boric has publicly expressed differences that separate him from President Bolsonaro, but at the same time has signaled the importance of maintaining good relations between the states of Brazil and Chile,” the Foreign Ministry emphasized. “Beyond these unfortunate declarations, the government of Chile manifests its conviction that our country and Brazil have not just a common history, but enormous challenges to face in a collaborative manner, which is why it expects to continue strengthening the permanent ties of friendship and cooperation between our countries.”
Bolsonaro has yet to respond to the Chilean government at press time.
While Boric has long been associated with “student” protest groups and far-left organizations with links to anti-government riots, he has not personally been implicated in any acts of violence. In 2019, Boric went out of his way to oppose the violence by refusing to visit the first suspect arrested for allegedly participating in the metro riots, a then-35-year-old math professor – but nonetheless accusing prosecutors of overcharging him.
“It is evident that he committed an error and he has recognized it himself in the destruction of turnstiles,” Boric said at the time, nonetheless attempting to defend the man by insisting he could not “be used as a scapegoat for all the rage contained throughout society.”
As of 2021, the widespread leftist violence in the country had reportedly left seven Santiago metro stations completely burned down, 18 partially burned down, 93 with “multiple damages” and 18 untouched, according to the Argentine news outlet Infobae. Leftists also went on a rampage to burn down historic sites and Catholic churches in particular, despite no apparent relation between the subway fare hikes and Christianity.
The attacks led to calls for the dissolution of the country’s constitution and replacement with a new founding document, which Boric has supported. While Chileans voted for a constitutional convention to draft a new document, polling from this month shows that nearly half the country opposes the draft constitution they have presented. A national referendum is necessary to replace the constitution.