The vice president of the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI, a right-wing party), María José Hoffmann, on October 24 accused Senator Arturo Squella, president of the Partido Republicano (Republican Party), of causing "deep damage to the Government" of President José Antonio Kast. CNN Chile reported the remarks.
The former deputy responded on X to statements Squella made against former Justice Minister Hernán Larraín. Hoffmann wrote that the senator's behavior "is almost a pattern of behavior by now" and that his message was "slanderous and irresponsible".
Hoffmann also argued that Squella's words reflect an "unhealthy" distrust of his loyal partners. She closed with a direct line aimed at his role as head of the President's party: "He is not up to the task of his role".
The clash stems from the sentence reductions the Government granted to people convicted of sexually abusing minors, a decision it later reversed. Squella responded ironically to a statement by Larraín and alluded to Paul Schäfer, the leader of Colonia Dignidad. The president of Evópoli, Luciano Cruz-Coke, had already come out in defense of the former minister.
Hoffmann thus joins UDI president Deputy Guillermo Ramírez, who called Squella's words "slanderous" and urged the governing coalition to act responsibly. With this, the two top gremialista leaders and Evópoli's leadership are publicly questioning the President's party.
Squella, for now, is standing by his position. According to CNN Chile, he said he feels obliged to call out those who, in his view, contribute "to the left's deception". He has not responded directly to Hoffmann.