The presidents of the Partido Republicano (Republican Party), Arturo Squella, and of Evópoli, Luciano Cruz-Coke, engaged in a heated exchange on X on Friday. The trigger was the reduction of sentences for sexual offenses signed by the Ministerio de Justicia (Ministry of Justice) under the government of José Antonio Kast.
According to La Tercera, the dispute reopened tensions between the Republicans and Chile Vamos, the traditional right-wing coalition that is part of the governing bloc. Both men are senators and lead parties that back the President.
It began with a public statement by Hernán Larraín (UDI), Minister of Justice during the government of Sebastián Piñera. In it, he contradicted the current head of the ministry, Fernando Rabat, who signed the decrees that benefited 56 people convicted of abuse and rape of minors.
Larraín said that during the passage of the 2022 law on sentence reductions, it was specified that the benefit excludes those convicted of rape or sexual abuse of minors. He added that the Corte Suprema (Supreme Court) initially granted the reduction to those convicted before the law, but in recent rulings changed its position and rejected it.
Squella replied directly to the former minister's tweet. "How valuable it would have been to have this law in force in the days of Paul Schafer, don't you think, Hernán?", he wrote, referring to the leader of Colonia Dignidad.
Minutes later, Cruz-Coke came to Larraín's defense. In a post on X, he reminded Squella that he leads the President's party and demanded "a minimum of prudence". He closed with a harsh line: "With this, who needs an opposition".
The Republican did not back down. According to Emol, Squella insisted that he had to call out those who, in his view, feed the "left's deception" against Rabat. He also alluded to Larraín's record on the matter, without specifying what he meant.
Republican deputy Stephanie Jéldrez joined in support of her party leader. She told Cruz-Coke that his advice would be more useful "within his own party".
The episode shows who is paying the price. Chile Vamos is seeking to distance itself from the Justice Ministry's position, while the President's party is closing ranks around its minister. The public dispute weakens the governing coalition's image of unity in the middle of a crisis.
Meanwhile, Kast ruled out removing Rabat. The Executive committed to pursuing a legislative fix and to not signing new sentence-reduction decrees. However, it acknowledged that reversing the 56 benefits already carried out is difficult.
