US Revokes Visas for Chilean Officials Over China Cable Plan
US Revokes Visas for Chilean Minister, Two Officials Over China Cable Plan
By Antonia Mufarech & Carolina Gonzalez, Business Standard
Feb 21, 2026
The US government is barring a Chilean cabinet minister and two other officials from being able to enter the country, part of a diplomatic rebuke over Chile’s trade ties with China including a proposed undersea cable that could link them.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the Chilean officials of undermining regional security in a brief statement released on Friday, triggering individual travel bans.
“These individuals and their immediate family members will be generally ineligible for entry into the United States, and any US visas held by them have been revoked,” according to the statement which did not name them.
The rare move comes less than a month before the inauguration of right-wing President-elect José Antonio Kast, a close White House ally.
At a press conference, Chile’s Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren explained that the US concerns relate to a request by two private companies to lay a submarine cable linking Chile to Hong Kong.
“The US government believes that cable could in some way pose a threat to its security,” van Klaveren said. He added that the proposal made by Chinese companies remains in an early stage and a final decision has not yet been made.
Chile’s Transport and Telecommunications Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz confirmed that he is among the three officials targeted with the visa cancellations. The identity of the other two officials targeted is unclear.
The officials “knowingly directed, authorised, funded, provided significant support to, and/or carried out activities that compromised critical telecommunications infrastructure and undermined regional security in our hemisphere,” according to the statement attributed to Rubio, which also took a swipe at outgoing leftist President Gabriel Boric.
Citing the confidentiality of visa records, a US official previously indicated that the names would not be disclosed.
Muñoz, widely seen as a technocrat, has led Chile’s efforts to become a digital hub by establishing a series of undersea cables to shore up connectivity. The latest project, cited by the minister in his remarks on Friday, is co-financed by Alphabet Inc.’s Google and will run from Chile to Australia.
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