{"id":63094,"date":"2026-02-26T09:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/?p=63094"},"modified":"2026-03-02T11:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:02:14","slug":"heine-on-u-s-pressure-and-chiles-digital-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/2026\/02\/26\/heine-on-u-s-pressure-and-chiles-digital-ambitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Heine on U.S. Pressure and Chile\u2019s Digital Ambitions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amb. Jorge Heine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ambassador Jorge Heine, former Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies, wrote a new article titled, Chile, meet Donroe: Rubio yanks visas over proposed China deal<\/em>, published by Responsible Statecraft on February 26, 2026. The article responds to a recent diplomatic clash between the United States and Chile erupted after the U.S. State Department revoked the visas of Chile\u2019s transport and telecommunications minister, the deputy minister, and his chief of staff. The move, justified by Washington as a response to \u201cendangering regional security\u201d, came as Chile was considering a proposal from China Mobile to build the first direct fiber\u2011optic submarine cable linking South America and Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heine argues that the U.S. action represents an unusually aggressive form of diplomatic pressure. As he notes, the sanctions targeted Chilean officials not for adopting a policy, but merely for considering one, calling it \u201cdesigned to prevent not just policies Washington dislikes, but the mere consideration of them.\u201d The U.S. ambassador\u2019s claim of \u201cincursions in Chile\u2019s telecommunications systems by malign foreign actors\u201d further escalated tensions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed $500 million cable would connect Valpara\u00edso to Hong Kong, reducing Chile\u2019s dependence on U.S.-routed digital traffic and supporting its long\u2011term strategy to become a regional digital hub. Chile\u2019s legal framework also obliges the government to evaluate foreign investment proposals, making Washington\u2019s objections especially problematic. As the article highlights, \u201cwhat the United States is objecting to is the very fact that [the] Chilean government is considering such a proposal\u2026 even if no final decision had yet been made.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Heine situates this episode within a broader pattern of U.S. efforts to limit Chinese technological influence in the Western Hemisphere, noting that a similar Chile\u2011China cable initiative was previously halted after pressure from then\u2011Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The piece concludes by underscoring the irony that President Gabriel Boric, described as one of the few left\u2011leaning leaders to consistently align with Washington on major international issues, now finds himself publicly criticized by U.S. officials, invoking Henry Kissinger\u2019s line: \u201cIt may be dangerous to be America\u2019s enemy, but to be America\u2019s friend is fatal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The full article can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A former research professor at the<\/span> Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies<\/span><\/a>, Jorge Heine is a diplomat, international relations scholar, and lawyer. He is currently a\u00a0<\/span>non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute. He has served as an ambassador of Chile to China, India, and South Africa. Heine has written over fifteen books, including<\/span> The Non-Aligned World: Striking Out in an Era of Great Power Competition<\/span><\/i><\/a> (2025), which provides insights on how the Global South can navigate the changing diplomatic landscape amid the U.S.-China rivalry.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ambassador Jorge Heine, former Research Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies, wrote a new article titled, Chile, meet Donroe: Rubio yanks visas over proposed China deal, published by Responsible Statecraft on February 26, 2026. The article responds to a recent diplomatic clash between the United States and Chile erupted after the U.S. State…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25562,"featured_media":40564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8410],"tags":[11366,8790,11588,9103,13285],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25562"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63095,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63094\/revisions\/63095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/pardeeschool\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}