The Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is defining in these hours the fate of the Chilean ambassador to the government of Gabriel Boric in the United Kingdom, Susana Herrera, who is involved in a five million dollar project that she has submitted to the government of Biobío in the southern part of the country to raise $5 million in public and private funding. According to a Sunday report in Chilean newspaper La Tercera, the Foreign Ministry has stopped this Herrera-led initiative without following regular procedures or informing his superiors. This new controversy comes amid the Convenios case, a corruption plot that has seen the ruling party cornered for transferring public funds to foundations primarily linked to the Broad Front, the president’s original coalition. This is a case being investigated by prosecutors that has led to the departure of seven government officials. Among them Giorgio Jackson, the president’s main ally, who resigned as Minister for Social Development two Fridays ago.
The government’s decision has been made: Herrera, an architect and designer of wooden furniture, has no option to continue as ambassador, the ministry said. These hours will only set out the terms of his resignation as he was not available to resign on Monday. Since taking office last October, he has held a controversial leadership in a venue important to Chilean foreign policy like London, characterized by a lack of diplomatic experience and training in international relations. In the Foreign Ministry, he is described as an open, enthusiastic person who has no understanding of politics.
Her appointment, like all others, is the exclusive prerogative of the current President, who would have taken into account the fact that she is a woman, of a specific region – she is from Concepción, more precisely in the Biobío region – and that she is not a militant It is affiliated with the Social Green Regionalist Federation (FRVS), a small governing party.
Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Gloria de la Fuente held a lengthy meeting with Herrera on Monday at the Santiago de Chile ministry, led by Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren. After the meeting, the Secretary of State said: “We will make a decision and a course of action in the next few hours.”
The Weekend Report reported that the ambassador initially received a stern warning from the Foreign Ministry, saying she could not take any steps in the future to gather resources from the Concepción government or other state bodies. without prior authorization from the Ministry and without the portfolio acting as an intermediary.
Herrera’s project aimed to restore the land affected by last summer’s fires, based on the “circular bioeconomy and wood infrastructure to build sustainable local capacities in the Biobío region,” reports La Tercera. Herrera himself put it at five million dollars and included, among other things, a lumber market in the city of Santa Juana. Herrera sent a letter to Governor Rodrigo Díaz on June 13, three days before the first wave of the deal case exploded in northern Chile, asking for the funding to be delivered. The ambassador explained in the letter that it was an initiative developed in collaboration with the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA), one of King Carlos III. and the renowned architecture firm Zaha Hadid. He did so without consulting anyone from the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, bypassing all the regular channels of a highly professional ministry independent of the government on duty.
Herrera’s letter was on the embassy’s letterhead and was signed by her as representing Chile in the UK. “This project can represent a milestone in the relationship between our countries as it represents a new style of diplomacy that emphasizes territories, shared benefits and working together to directly support communities.” “This approach has been at the core of my work as Chilean Ambassador to the United Kingdom,” Herrera notes in the letter, reproduced by the Chilean newspaper. “I understand that a project of this magnitude and impact requires the collaboration of numerous public and private actors, but above all regional authorities. For this reason, allow me to ask you for your direct support in finding the necessary funding to make this great opportunity for our region a reality,” adds Herrera in the text addressed to Díaz.
The regional government of Biobío, led by Díaz, has been in the crosshairs of the Court of Auditors and the public prosecutor’s office for transfers of public funds worth millions to various foundations.
The “Living Lab Biobío” project was designed by Herrera himself, together with the marine biologist and environmental consultant Alberto Fuentes Larenas, and caught the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because the ambassadors are usually the ones who transmit to Chile the initiatives prepared by different organizations. those who turn to diplomatic missions in search of help. Not the other way around, as was the case on this occasion. It was Herrera and Fuentes Larenas who appreciated the different phases of the project and then took steps with the CBA, the Architectural Office and the Government of Concepción.
“He has to give up”
On Monday morning, ahead of the meeting between Herrera and Undersecretary De la Fuente, the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs awaits the performance of its ambassadors, as well as the fulfillment of the objectives set for their foreign missions.” To carry out management control, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has mechanisms in place that allow it to act with the speed necessary to protect the interests of our country. In this case, these mechanisms are activated and all necessary background information is collected. “We cannot refer to specific instruments or details as they are procedures that require confidentiality,” assured Van Klaveren’s ministry.
Government spokeswoman Camila Vallejo said in a tone similar to that of the State Department: “She is in the assessment, politically and also administratively.” The State Department is gathering all the information and background information.”
The pressure to repeal it came from the ruling party itself. The leader of the Socialist Party, Paulina Vodanovic, said categorically: “He must resign.” “. Socialist MP Tomás de Rementería, chairman of the Chamber’s Committee on External Relations, expressed the same opinion.
Herrera was defended only by the FRVS, a small faction of the Chilean ruling party that had nominated Herrera for the post of ambassador. “I absolutely rule out any irregularity or any direct or indirect personal benefit that the Ambassador is trying to pursue. There was a very lofty goal here: to install an ecologically sustainable development option in a community [municipio] which was devastated by the fires (Santa Juana). Unfortunately, due to the amount of suspicions that have been identified, this will not be carried out,” assured the president of this political force, Flavia Torrealba.
Herrera has no known public records in Chile. In 2021, she ran for a first-constituency post for the Non-Neutral Independents movement, but was not elected. Even when he wanted to move into parliament for the FRVS at the end of the same year, he did not get a seat, as he received 1.72% of the votes.