Far-left President of Chile Gabriel Boric refused to take a recent telephone call from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio over concerns pertaining to his government’s stance on Israel, the Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported on Tuesday.
Boric has repeatedly condemned Israel for its self-defense operations against the terrorist organization Hamas, accusing the Jewish state of committing a “genocide” in Gaza and recalling his ambassador from the country in late October 2023. Boric also excluded Israel from the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) and pledged Chile’s support for South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel.
Boric, whose term is slated to end in March 2026 and is barred from seeking immediate reelection in the November elections, called for Chilean lawmakers to pass a boycott of Israeli goods during his current term’s last speech to Congress on June 1. In his remarks, he once again accused Israel of committing an “ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.” Responding to criticism from the Israeli ambassador to Chile, Boric claimed that the decision is “neither commercial nor symbolic, but one of principle.”
La Tercera stated in its report that Sec. Rubio tried to speak with Boric over the phone on Friday ahead of his speech on Sunday to express concerns about the measures that Chile could implement against Israel, including a possible rupture of diplomatic relations. However, Boric reportedly refused to speak to Rubio and the U.S. Secretary was instead referred to speak with Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren.
According to La Tercera, Rubio’s expectation “was not satisfied” and he was reportedly told that Boric was busy “fine-tuning” his speech to Congress and therefore only van Klaveren could respond to his call.
“The Chancellor received a call on Friday from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It was the first conversation with his U.S. counterpart,” the Foreign Ministry told the newspaper. “During the dialogue, the topics of the bilateral relation were reviewed, and it took place in a cordial tone, very similar to conversations that the Minister of Foreign Affairs has held with foreign ministers of other countries that are also close.”
According to unnamed Chilean government sources cited by the newspaper, the call between Rubio and van Klaveren lasted around ten minutes and it was “inescapable” that Rubio and van Klaveren would address the issue of Israel. According to the source, van Klaveren ruled out to Rubio that Boric would cut Chile’s ties with Israel.
“Rubio also reportedly told Minister Van Klaveren about the efforts being made by the United States for a cease-fire in Gaza. It was a conversation on good terms, government sources insist,” the report read. “The Presidency stated that the contact with the President did not materialize and explained that ‘presidents of the Republic contact presidents or prime ministers. Chancellors contact Chancellors.’”
Foreign Minister van Klaveren confirmed on Tuesday that he spoke with Sec. Rubio over the phone, asserting that it was not out of “disrespect to the Secretary of the United States” that Boric did not speak to him. The Minister described his conversation with Rubio as “absolutely cordial.”
“It is not unusual for a U.S. Secretary to speak with presidents or heads of government of other countries, prime ministers, etc,” van Klaveren reportedly told members of the Chilean Congress’ Foreign Affairs Committee. “It is also not unusual for the president to excuse himself because he is preparing his presidential bill, as was public and notorious.”
“It was a nice conversation, friendly really. And it was the first conversation I had with the Secretary of State because basically we had agreed on a meeting in Washington three months ago and it couldn’t materialize because the Secretary had to leave for Saudi Arabia because of the Ukraine issue,” he added.
Although President Boric did not announce a rupture of diplomatic ties with Israel during his speech to Congress, the far-left president strongly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged lawmakers to pass the Israeli goods boycott bill and to diversify Chile’s commercial relations in defense “to stop depending on Israeli industry in every area.”
“In this sense, we support the proposal adopted by the government of Spain to decree an arms embargo on the government of Israel, so that they do not continue killing children,” Boric said during his speech.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here
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