Boric Rejects Chile’s Escudo de las Américas Membership
CHILE · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The country Chile, the world’s largest copper producer, has been governed since 11 March 2026 by right-wing President José Antonio Kast.
- —The background On 22 September Kast took Chile into the Escudo de las Américas, a US-led coalition against organised crime, without a vote in Congress.
- —Why now On Saturday 3 October ex-president Eduardo Frei, whom Kast named an honorary envoy in May, defended the move in a newspaper letter.
- —What happened On Sunday 4 October left-wing ex-president Gabriel Boric said joining “goes against the essential principles” of Chilean foreign policy since 1990.
- —His objection Boric backs anti-drug cooperation but objects to clauses on critical-mineral supply chains, which he says aim to shut out powers such as China.
- —What it means for you No rules change yet for residents or investors; the fight is over Chile’s freedom to deal with both Washington and Beijing.
- —Still open The Senate questions three ministers on the pact in a special session on Wednesday 7 October, possibly behind closed doors.
Chile’s former president Gabriel Boric has sharpened his attack on the Escudo de las Américas, a US-led alliance against organised crime. Joining it, he said on Sunday 4 October, “goes against the essential principles” Chile has followed abroad since democracy returned in 1990.
Boric spoke a day after fellow ex-president Eduardo Frei defended the pact, and three days before the Senate debates it. The split is not simply between two former leaders, because Frei now serves President José Antonio Kast’s government as an honorary envoy.
What Boric Said at a Memory Festival
Boric spoke on the second day of MUDA, a festival of memory organised by the Corporación Estadio Nacional Memoria Nacional. The group keeps alive the history of Santiago’s National Stadium, used as a detention centre after the 1973 military coup.
“This decision to join the Escudo de las Américas, from my perspective, goes against the essential principles” of Chilean diplomacy, he said. Those principles date from the return to democracy, he added, The Clinic and Cooperativa reported.
What is serious, Boric argued, is that long-standing “consensuses” on Chile’s place in the world have “unfortunately” been broken, La Tercera reported. Those consensuses, he said, had held “beyond political cycles”.
Sovereignty, he said, must be defended not only territorially but “from the political, economic and geopolitical point of view”. Boric, who governed from March 2022 to March 2026, handed power to Kast after the left lost the last election.
His Reply to Frei’s Letter
Frei led Chile from 1994 to 2000 for the centrist Christian Democrats. In a letter to the daily El Mercurio, he argued that no country can fight regional crime gangs alone.
That letter is covered in Chile’s Frei Backs US-Led Escudo de las Américas Pact, published on 4 October. Boric said Frei defends the pact “tangentially”, from the angle of fighting drug trafficking.
“But at no point did President Bachelet and I say that we disagreed with that,” he said, BioBioChile reported. Every country, Boric added, should be ready to cooperate with all others against drug trafficking.
Michelle Bachelet, a Socialist, was president from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018. Their joint objections of 24 September are covered in Shield of the Americas: 2 Chile Ex-Presidents Ask Kast to Reconsider.
“The problem is that the Escudo de las Américas goes much further than that,” he said, according to La Tercera.
Critical Minerals and the China Question
Boric pointed to passages on “safeguarding the supply chains of metals, of critical minerals”. Their aim, he argued, is to keep “other powers, read China” out of those supply chains, in the name of “continental security”.
The joint statement released on 22 September, published by the US State Department, does contain an economic pillar. It lists “safeguarding critical minerals supply chains through diversified and reliable sourcing” and “exploring investment screening mechanisms”.
The stakes are high for a country that mines more copper than any other and is a major lithium supplier. China buys about 37% of Chilean exports and the United States 16%, Christian Democrat deputy Jorge Díaz said on Saturday.
“Chile maintains a strategic autonomy, negotiates with everyone, with whoever suits it, to defend our interests,” Boric said. That line sums up the case he and Bachelet have made since September.
Foreign Troops and What the Text Says
Boric also objected to talk of “defence mechanisms with foreign armies on the territory of sovereign countries”. He said the government’s defence of the pact leaves such questions unaddressed.
The published statement speaks of intelligence sharing, “civilian law enforcement” and sanctions on 24 named crime groups, without mentioning troops or armies. It does plan a push for collective action under the Rio Treaty, a 1947 hemispheric mutual-defence pact.
On 22 September Kast insisted that “there is no treaty here” and that membership means no military operations, BioBioChile reported. Senate vice-president Iván Moreira, of the conservative UDI party, has said the pact is not about soldiers coming to Chile.
Government, Envoy and Opposition
Frei’s role adds a twist. The foreign ministry announced on 29 May that Kast had named him an unpaid “ambassador on special mission” to represent Chile abroad.
Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna told deputies on 28 September that “there was no signature” and the text “is not binding”, RPP reported. The government’s position is that a political declaration needs no ratification by Congress.
Within Frei’s own party, Díaz said the former president’s view “differs absolutely” from that of Christian Democrat deputies. Socialist deputy Nelson Venegas questioned whether the Escudo de las Américas is only about security, Radio Universidad de Chile reported.
The Communist Party, which sat in Boric’s government, is also hardening its tone. Its leader, Lautaro Carmona, told the party paper El Siglo that it is now “part of the toughest opposition” to Kast’s government.
What Boric’s Criticism Does Not Change
Boric holds no public office, and his remarks do not alter the legal status of Chile’s membership. Opposition deputies have asked the Contraloría, the comptroller that checks the legality of government acts, to rule on the move.
That request is explained in Chile Opposition Asks Watchdog to Rule on Kast’s US-Led Security Pact, published on 28 September. Nothing in the dispute changes the rules for residents, travellers or investors yet.
Its weight is political. Kast’s centrist envoy now stands on one side, and two left-wing former presidents on the other.
What Comes Next
The Senate debates the Escudo de las Américas in a special session on Wednesday 7 October. The ministers invited include Pérez Mackenna, Defence Minister Fernando Barros and Public Security Minister Martín Arrau, La Tercera reported.
Senate president Paulina Núñez has said the session could be declared secret if sensitive material on sovereignty comes up. The question at its core, she said, is whether the pact is a treaty that needs ratification by Congress.
Kast also owes the Chamber of Deputies the documents behind the pact by late October. See Chile Foreign Minister Survives Interpellation as Deputies Give Kast 30 Days on US Pact, published on 29 September.
More: Latin America news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
What is the Escudo de las Américas?
It is a US-led coordination framework against drug cartels and transnational crime, launched by Donald Trump in March 2026. Chile joined as a full member on 22 September, as one of 15 governments behind its joint statement.
Why does Boric oppose it if he backs fighting drug gangs?
He says the Escudo de las Américas goes beyond crime, into critical-mineral supply chains and possible defence arrangements. He and Bachelet argue that Chile should keep its strategic autonomy and trade with every major power.
Does Congress have to approve Chile’s membership?
The government says no, because Chile adhered to a non-binding political declaration and signed no treaty. Opposition lawmakers dispute this, and the Senate examines the question on Wednesday 7 October.
Why does Eduardo Frei’s support matter?
Frei led Chile from 1994 to 2000, and Kast named him an honorary special envoy in May 2026. His letter gave the government cross-party cover, but his own party’s deputies rejected it.
Sources: The Clinic, 4 October 2026; Emol, 4 October 2026; Cooperativa, 4 October 2026; BioBioChile, 4 October 2026; La Tercera, 4 October 2026; El Mostrador, 4 October 2026; Radio Universidad de Chile, 4 October 2026; La Tercera, 5 October 2026; El Siglo, 3 October 2026; Publimicro, 3 October 2026; US Embassy in Chile, 22 September 2026; BioBioChile, 22 September 2026; Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 29 May 2026; RPP, 28 September 2026; La Tercera, 24 September 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief