On Monday, August 29, the Chilean government summoned Brazil’s ambassador in Santiago, Paulo Roberto Soares Pacheco, after Jair Bolsonaro claimed that Chilean President Gabriel Boric “burned the subway” during protests before assuming the country’s presidency.
Chile’s Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola said in a statement that Bolsonaro’s statements during the electoral debate on Sunday, August 28, regarding the Chilean president are “absolutely false information” and that they “erode democracy and bilateral relations.”
Bolsonaro spoke about Boric in his closing remarks in the presidential candidates’ debate. The Brazilian president stated, “Lula supported the President of Chile [Gabriel Boric] as well, the same one who practiced acts of setting fire to subways there in Chile.”
The Chilean Foreign Ministry also released a note regarding the occurrence, stating that “President Boric has already publicly expressed the differences that separate him from President Bolsonaro, but at the same time indicated the importance of maintaining good relations between the states of Brazil and Chile.”
Sought by Poder360, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry (Itamaraty) said that “the Brazilian ambassador in Santiago [Paulo Roberto Soares Pacheco] held a meeting at the Chilean chancellery on Monday, August 29,” but gave no further details.
With information from Poder360