Chile Summons the US Ambassador Over a Claim About the 2019 Riots
Key Facts
- — What happened. Chile’s foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador after remarks he made on television.
- — What he said. American intelligence concluded categorically that the 2019 unrest came from leftist organisations.
- — The catch. Chile is not protesting. It is asking him to hand the material over.
- — What is missing. No document, no agency and no date were given. The claim rests on one interview.
- — Who is involved. Ambassador Brandon Judd and Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, under President José Antonio Kast.
- — What comes next. The meeting was set for 9 September. No outcome had been published as this was written.
A US ambassador said on Chilean television that American intelligence knows who started the 2019 protests. Chile’s response was not the one you might expect.
Read the ministry’s statement closely and the shape of this becomes clear. Chile is not objecting to the claim, it wants the file.
What the Ambassador Said
Brandon Judd, the United States ambassador to Chile, gave an interview to CNN Chile reported on 8 September.
He said that in 2019, what American intelligence tells us is categorically that it came from leftist organisations.
He was referring to the estallido social, the wave of protests and rioting that began in Santiago in October 2019.
He said the analysis was done without US agencies coming to Chile. He also said he had not shared it with Chilean prosecutors.
He added that the material could be made available if Chile asked for it formally.
What Is Not There
No document was published. No agency was named, and no date was given for the analysis.
This is an ambassador’s spoken assertion rather than a released intelligence product. That distinction matters.
Nothing independent corroborates it. Everything in circulation traces back to the same television interview.
So the accurate phrasing is that the ambassador said US intelligence had reached a conclusion. Writing that US intelligence linked the protests to the left goes further than the record allows.
Chile’s Response Is Not a Protest
The foreign ministry summoned Judd on 8 September for a meeting the following day.
Its stated purpose concerned the violence of 18 October 2019.
It said it considers any information that helps clarify those events to be of the greatest importance.
The aim it gave was identifying those responsible for acts of violence. That is a request for evidence, not an objection.
The reason is political. President José Antonio Kast’s government has long argued the protests were organised rather than spontaneous.
The foreign minister is Francisco Pérez Mackenna. He took the post with the Kast cabinet.
An Earlier Row That Is Easy to Confuse With This One
In November 2025, Chile’s then foreign minister delivered a formal note of protest to the same man.
That was under President Gabriel Boric, and Judd was still ambassador-designate at the time.
The note called his remarks inappropriate and unfortunate, and described them as interference in Chile’s internal affairs.
That statement is still on the ministry’s website and is a different episode entirely.
Anyone citing it as Chile’s reaction to the 2019 claim has the wrong year and the wrong government.
Who Brandon Judd Is
Judd is the 50th United States ambassador to Chile. He was nominated in December 2024 and confirmed in October 2025.
He took office on 10 November 2025. Before that he led the US Border Patrol union for more than a decade.
He was not a career diplomat. That background shapes how his remarks are read in Santiago.
The embassy had not published a response at the time of writing.
What the Estallido Social Was
The protests began on 18 October 2019 over a rise in Santiago metro fares. They spread within days.
Metro stations and buildings were burned, and the government declared a state of emergency and deployed troops.
The unrest led to a referendum on rewriting Chile’s constitution. Two draft constitutions were later rejected at the ballot box.
Who organised the violence, and whether it was organised at all, has been argued over in Chile ever since.
That is why an ambassador’s remark on the subject lands as heavily as it does.
Chile’s own prosecutors have brought cases over specific acts of arson and looting. No court has found a single organising hand behind the whole thing.
That is the gap the ambassador’s claim steps into. It is also why the government wants the paperwork rather than an argument.
The Wider Pressure on the Foreign Ministry
The opposition is separately gathering signatures to formally question Pérez Mackenna in Congress.
That move concerns his handling of Argentine statements about the Strait of Magellan and relations with Washington.
It is a different matter from the Judd remarks. The two are running at the same time and are being reported together.
The government is also under pressure at home on the economy. Inflation and the central bank’s rate decision landed the same week.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the US ambassador actually say?
Brandon Judd told CNN Chile that American intelligence concluded categorically that the 2019 unrest came from leftist organisations. He named no agency and released no document.
Did Chile protest against the remarks?
No. It summoned him to request the underlying material, and said any information clarifying the 2019 violence is of the greatest importance.
Is this the same as the 2025 protest note?
No. In November 2025 the previous government delivered a formal note calling his remarks interference, a separate episode under a different president.
Is there any published evidence?
None so far. No document, agency or date has been made public, and the claim rests on a single television interview.
Sources: Emol, the ambassador’s remarks on CNN Chile, La Tercera, the foreign ministry summons, Cooperativa, the ministry’s stated purpose, BioBioChile, the summons reported, Chilean foreign ministry, the November 2025 protest note, Chilean foreign ministry, the minister takes office, El Mostrador, the move to question the minister in Congress
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