Chilean government rejects sexual harassment accusations against Boric

Photo: Esteban Felix Associated Press Camila Vallejo, a Chilean government spokeswoman, during a news conference regarding the sexual harassment complaint against Chilean President Gabriel Boric, at the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024

Agence France-Presse in Santiago

Posted yesterday at 14:23 Updated yesterday at 19:16

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The Chilean government on Tuesday deemed “baseless” a complaint of sexual harassment filed by a woman against President Gabriel Boric for events dating back ten years, even claiming that she was the one who harassed the future leader.

“This is a baseless accusation about events that never happened,” government spokeswoman Camila Vallejo said at a press conference, even referring to “a clear pattern of harassment” by the complainant toward Mr. Boric.

“The president […] categorically rejects the complaint” and “denies” the alleged facts, assured his lawyer Jonatan Valenzuela in a statement, also assuring that it was he who had been harassed by 25 emails, one of which contained “explicit” images, without this having been “neither requested nor consented to”.

The complaint, made public Monday evening via a statement from the Chilean president's defense, was filed on September 6 by a woman with the Magallanes prosecutor's office in southern Chile, the region where Mr. Boric is from and where he was elected deputy in 2014.

The attorney general of this region, Cristián Crisosto, confirmed to AFP that there was “criminal proceedings relating to the facts indicated “.

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Mr. Boric, 38, is accused of sexual harassment and distribution of intimate images, according to the complaint filed by this woman whose identity has not been revealed.

The alleged events occurred when Mr. Boric was 27 years old and had just finished his law studies in his hometown of Punta Arenas, 3,000 km south of Santiago.

The Chilean press revealed the content of the emails that the woman allegedly sent him between August 2013 and July 2014. Initially friendly, they evolved into a confession of love before ending in an outburst of anger.

Photo: Esteban Felix Associated Press French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Gabriel Boric, right, during a state visit to La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Chile, on November 20

“Bubbling love”

“Thanks for ruining my life, you bastard,” reads a message dated May 24, 2014. Before that, the woman confides her “bubbling love” to him. Mr. Boric responded with phrases such as “thank you very much for your letter and your trust,” followed by a question mark expressing a certain perplexity.

“My client has never had an emotional or friendly relationship with her and they have had no communication since July 2014,” added Mr. Valenzuela.

Neither the complainant nor her defense have spoken to the media to give their version of events.

The electronic media The Clinicreported Tuesday that the plaintiff had “been the subject of at least four legal proceedings in the last three years.” The latest one reportedly concerns her alleged involvement in a violent robbery.

Mr. Boric is the youngest president in Chilean history. He came to power in 2022 and will serve until 2026, with no immediate possibility of re-election. As president, he enjoys special immunity.

The filing of this complaint comes in the midst of a scandal linked to accusations of rape against the former strongman of Mr. Boric's government, the undersecretary of state at the Ministry of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, which led to his resignation in October and his arrest in mid-November.

“In Chile, no one is above the law,” wrote Gabriel Boric on X, shortly after Mr. Monsalve was arrested at his home in Viña del Mar (120 km from Santiago).

Chile has also been rocked by another scandal in recent months, the “Hermosilla” affair: an influence-peddling network set up by a prestigious elite lawyer, Luis Hermosilla.

During his election campaign in 2021, Mr. Boric was accused of another alleged sexual harassment that he also denied at the time. The complaint was never the subject of a criminal investigation.