The Briefing:
- Fourteen opposition deputies spanning the Communist Party to the Christian Democrats filed a formal petition on October 10 demanding that Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna declare USA Ambassador Brandon Judd persona non grata under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
- The petition cited multiple episodes of alleged interference by Judd in Chilean internal affairs, including statements about the Strait of Magellan, Antarctic sovereignty, the Chile-China submarine cable, the domestic ride-hailing law, and intelligence claims about the 2019 social uprising.
- Republican lawmaker Stephan Schubert, chair of the Chamber's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Interparliamentary Affairs and Latin American Integration, condemned the move as "absolutely irresponsible," accusing the opposition of weaponizing foreign policy for domestic partisan ends during sensitive bilateral talks with the United States.
Republican legislator Stephan Schubert delivered a pointed rebuke on Sunday against opposition lawmakers who had formally demanded that the Chilean government declare USA Ambassador Brandon Judd persona non grata, calling the initiative a reckless exploitation of diplomatic mechanisms for narrow domestic purposes. Schubert, who chairs the Chamber of Deputies' Committee on Foreign Affairs, Interparliamentary Affairs and Latin American Integration, aimed his sharpest criticism at signatories who sit on his own committee, arguing they know precisely what diplomatic protocols they are flouting.
A Cross-Party Coalition Demands Action
The confrontation stems from a formal declaration submitted on October 10 by 14 opposition deputies — ranging from the Communist Party to the Christian Democrats — urging Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna to invoke Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and expel the USA envoy. The lawmakers accused Judd of repeated interference in Chile's domestic affairs, pointing to a series of provocative statements in recent months: remarks conditioning U.S. support for Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan on cooperation with Washington on trade matters, assertions dismissing Chilean territorial claims over Antarctica, commentary on the proposed Chile-China submarine cable, opinions about the domestic ride-hailing legislation known as the Uber Law, and an interview with CNN Chile in which he claimed U.S. intelligence had linked left-wing organizations to the violence of Chile's 2019 social uprising. Judd later walked back that final assertion after being summoned to the Foreign Ministry. The deputies also demanded that Pérez Mackenna disclose the full scope of Chile's involvement in the so-called Shield of the Americas security arrangement.
The petition also accused Pérez Mackenna of failing to adequately defend national sovereignty. Communist Party president Lautaro Carmona publicly endorsed the initiative on TVN's Estado Nacional on Sunday, October 11, charging that the ambassador had repeatedly overstepped his diplomatic role and that his conduct was the opposite of the measured, low-profile approach expected of a diplomatic representative.
"Stop Playing Games With Foreign Policy"
Schubert moved swiftly to challenge that framing. In remarks reported by BioBioChile, he acknowledged that domestic political grievances may have a basis, but rejected channeling those frustrations through Chile's foreign policy machinery. He argued that Chile is at a delicate juncture in its trade and diplomatic relationship with the United States — the country faces a 12.5 percent tariff on its exports, unresolved Visa Waiver concerns, and ongoing bilateral negotiations — and that triggering a diplomatic escalation at precisely this moment carries disproportionate risk.
Schubert noted that the opposition had already leaned on Pérez Mackenna through a formal parliamentary interpellation and had pushed for special legislative sessions. Stacking a persona non grata petition on top of those moves, he suggested, was not principled advocacy but an escalation fueled by internal ideological quarrels. "Stop using foreign policy for internal affairs," he said, arguing that the pressures being applied were rooted in internal divisions rather than a genuine concern for Chile's diplomatic standing.
The Sharpest Cut: His Own Committee Members
Perhaps the most pointed dimension of Schubert's response targeted the signatories who belong to the very committee he chairs. In Chile's congressional culture, the foreign affairs committee is expected to operate with a degree of bipartisan restraint, handling international matters with the awareness that public statements travel far and have real consequences for ongoing negotiations. The Republican lawmaker stressed that those committee members are fully acquainted with diplomatic protocols and can raise dissenting views privately without turning bilateral friction into a public spectacle that undermines Chile's credibility as a stable partner.
A Context of Ongoing Bilateral Pressure
Judd, a former president of the National Border Patrol Council who was nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 7, 2025, arrived in Chile on November 10, 2025, and has generated repeated controversies since. His most recent trigger for the October 10 petition was a statement at a Global Trade Day event organized by the shipping company CSAV, in which he appeared to tie U.S. backing for Chilean sovereignty in the Strait of Magellan to Chile's willingness to cooperate with Washington on other matters. He later said his words had been misrepresented. Earlier, his CNN Chile assertions about left-wing groups and the 2019 uprising prompted the Foreign Ministry to summon him for a formal conversation, after which he clarified that the U.S. had not conducted its own investigation and relied on Chilean data.
The broader context is the government of President José Antonio Kast, whose administration has sought to maintain a constructive relationship with the Trump White House even as Judd's statements have repeatedly strained the diplomatic atmosphere. Schubert, a fellow member of the Partido Republicano, has consistently argued that bilateral stability is best preserved through quiet diplomacy rather than headline-grabbing confrontation.
Diplomacy vs. Domestic Politics
The dispute reflects a deeper tension over how Chile should respond to an ambassador whose public conduct many across the political spectrum have considered unusually candid for a diplomatic posting. Schubert himself had previously conceded, in remarks to Ex-Ante, that Judd "has to observe certain norms" — an acknowledgment that discomfort with the envoy's style was not exclusive to the left. But Schubert drew a firm line between private complaints and the extreme measure of a formal expulsion demand, warning that using the Vienna Convention mechanism as a political pressure tactic sets a damaging precedent for Chile's reputation as a reliable partner in multilateral diplomacy.
A Call to Recover Consensus
Schubert closed his statement with an appeal to recapture the cross-party consensus that has historically insulated Chilean foreign policy from domestic partisan conflict. He argued that what makes the current episode especially serious is how far it departs from a long-standing tradition of keeping bilateral relationships somewhat quarantined from electoral cycles and ideological battles.
He concluded that demanding a diplomat's expulsion in the middle of active trade negotiations, without first exhausting all available diplomatic channels, is "absolutely irresponsible." The government, he maintained, already has the tools and the language to manage bilateral friction with the United States, and those tools were already in use.
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