The governmental transition process suffered an absolute break after a fierce dispute over the installation of a Chinese submarine cable.
Boric rejected the accusations and maintained that on February 18, he formally informed Kast about the warnings coming from Washington. The outgoing president described his successor's statements as “false” and assured that the transition process was proceeding with “transparency”. During the meeting on Tuesday, Kast allegedly requested a public retraction, to which Boric refused, ending the coordination instances.
The suspension affects technical meetings between incoming and outgoing ministers in strategic areas such as Interior, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Transportation. These meetings were intended to address issues of national security, the international scenario marked by the war in Iran and the definition of diplomatic priorities for the next administration
.
Despite this crisis, the outgoing government reiterated its willingness to resume dialogue. Through a public message, Boric regretted Kast's decision and assured that his administration maintains the will to guarantee an orderly transfer that safeguards the continuity of the State.
With March 11 as the deadline, uncertainty marks the Chilean political scene. The interruption of the transition process introduces institutional tension at a key moment and leaves open questions about how the handover of power will ultimately take place
.Eight days before the change of command ceremony, President-elect José Antonio Kast announced the immediate suspension of the transition process with the outgoing communist government of Gabriel Boric, after a meeting at the Palacio de La Moneda that lasted just twenty minutes and ended without agreements.
The decision, unprecedented in the country's recent political tradition, comes in the midst of a diplomatic and geopolitical conflict linked to a digital infrastructure project promoted by the Chinese company China Mobile. The initiative involves the installation of a submarine fiber optic cable to directly connect Asia with Chile, with the objective of “diversifying the country's international connectivity”, which currently relies heavily on links that cross U.S
. territory.The project has raised concerns in Washington. The administration of President Donald Trump believes that the expansion of Chinese technological infrastructure in Latin America could pose major risks to regional security. Last February, the United States revoked the visas of three senior Chilean officials, including the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz. The Chilean government described the measure as “unprecedented” and submitted a note
of diplomatic protest.
After the meeting in La Moneda, Kast accused the Executive of not providing full information about the international pressures linked to the project. According to the elected president, the topic was mentioned superficially in a previous conversation, but the scope of the conflict or the real position of the United States were not detailed. “We put an end to the transfer process because we don't trust the information that is given to us,” he told the press.
