MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean Lower House Speaker resigns her post

Cariola was giving birth when her apartment was searched by the prosecution, which sparked controversy

Chilean Congresswoman Karol Cariola, who is on maternity leave, turned in her resignation as Speaker of the Lower House after private chats in which she criticized President Gabriel Boric Font were leaked. Cariola is also under investigation for alleged influence peddling after she asked former Santiago Mayor and fellow Communist Irací Hassler to help a Chinese businessman “friend,” as other private conversations would have proven. She was also quoted as saying that Boric was “a shitty human being” and the current government, “the worst thing that has happened to us.”

“After reflecting deeply on this situation, I have come to the conviction that I need tranquility and concentration for the care of my son, who is, without any doubt, my first priority,” the 37-year-old Cariola said in a statement. “I must also defend myself from the attacks I am receiving because he needs his mother to be strong,” she added.

“My only action, as president of the Chile-China friendship group, was to ask for guidance. I never asked to intervene in the process or do anything outside the legal procedure,” she also argued. “In the same chats, I show my agreement when I was informed that the deadlines had already elapsed and that Legal had closed the case with the expired patent,” she also mentioned while insisting that the investigative file had been leaked “to the wrong hands, from which private conversations have been obtained and widely disseminated, thus violating the protection of information and the right to privacy.”

“If there were any crimes, they should be investigated with the impartiality that corresponds to justice, without bias. But I am not going to be turned against my colleagues because one day in confidence they have spoken ill of me or my trusted people,” Boric said on social media.

Cariola's decision followed the publication by La Tercera of leaked 2022 text messages between her and Hassler. Two weeks ago, the police raided Cariola's apartment on prosecutor Patricio Cooper's orders to seize her devices, which sparked controversy as she was giving birth at the time. Cariola denounced the raid as a violation of her and her newborn’s rights. The scandal has strained relations within Boric’s coalition, with Cariola and Hassler criticizing prominent figures like Spokeswoman Camila Vallejo and former Presidential Chief of Staff Matías Meza-Lopehandía.

In 2023, Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into the failed purchase of the exclusive Sierra Bella building Hassler wanted for a municipal clinic. Cooper was investigating whether or not there was an overcharge for the building, located in downtown Santiago. After seizing Hassler's mobile phone, he found the controversial messages. Hassler eventually dropped the idea of buying the building after a negative report from the Comptroller's Office. In doing so, she announced legal action against the building's appraisers.

Earlier this week, Chief Prosecutor Ángel Valencia removed Cooper from the case, which was transferred to Valparaíso's Claudia Perivancich.

Separately, Hassler filed a criminal complaint for breach of secrecy after private conversations with Cariola were leaked to the press, calling it a “political operation.”