U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Trump administration is imposing visa restrictions on three Chilean government officials involved in a proposed subsea cable project linked to Chinese companies, citing risks to regional security and critical telecommunications infrastructure.
The move, revealed late last week via an official State Department statement, targets officials who allegedly “knowingly directed, authorized, funded, provided significant support to, or carried out activities” that could compromise hemisphere-wide security. One confirmed sanctioned official is Chile’s outgoing Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz.
This development places Chile—where the U.S. is the leading foreign investor and China the top trading partner—squarely in the escalating U.S.-China geopolitical rivalry in Latin America. The proposed undersea fiber-optic cable, still in the evaluation stage, would connect Chile to Hong Kong or mainland China, raising U.S. concerns over potential vulnerabilities in global internet backbone infrastructure (which carries an estimated 95% of international data traffic).
Outgoing left-wing President Gabriel Boric, whose term ends on March 11, strongly condemned the restrictions, rejecting claims that Chile engages in actions threatening national or regional security. Chile’s Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren clarified that the U.S. objections center on the cable proposal from private Chinese firms.
U.S. Ambassador to Chile Brandon Judd defended the decision on Monday as a “sovereign right” to protect regional security when threatened, according to reports from The Associated Press and other outlets.
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The timing is notable: The action comes just days before a Latin American leaders’ summit in Miami and two weeks before Chile’s incoming right-wing president, José Antonio Kast, takes office following his landslide election victory late last year. Analysts view this as a clear signal from President Donald Trump to counter China’s growing strategic footprint in the region—often framed as part of a modern “Donroe Doctrine” (a blend of Trump’s name and the Monroe Doctrine)—urging Latin American nations to align more closely with U.S. interests.
China’s embassy in Chile has criticized the restrictions as showing “obvious contempt” for Chile’s sovereignty, dignity, and national interests.
This incident follows similar U.S. pressures elsewhere in the region, including Panama’s court ruling against a Hong Kong-based firm’s canal port concessions and heightened actions against governments in Cuba and Venezuela.
Undersea cables remain vital yet largely invisible arteries of global connectivity, making them a flashpoint in great-power competition over digital infrastructure and influence.