Original article: Confusión diplomática y cuenta suspendida: polémica por supuesto contacto entre cancilleres de Israel y Chile
Identity Theft of Chancellor Pérez Mackenna?
An unusual diplomatic controversy erupted yesterday when Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar tweeted that he had a conversation with Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, during which he purportedly thanked him for Chile’s decision to withdraw from the so-called «Hague Group.»
The fundamental issue is that Chile has never been a part of this international entity. Publicly available information indicates that the group includes Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa. In fact, in July 2025, the Chamber of Deputies approved a motion asking the Executive to consider Chile’s incorporation into the group, but this integration was never realized.
Social media quickly caught wind of the situation. The Palestinian Community of Chile responded with an ironic message, questioning the validity of the alleged gratitude and highlighting the underlying inconsistency.
However, the controversy escalated on another front. The account tagged by Sa’ar (@Perez_Mackenna), which does not belong to the official Minister, posted two messages. The first, around 6 PM, stated, “I appreciate the words of Minister Sa’ar. Chile reaffirms its commitment to a foreign policy based on respect for international law, dialogue, and cooperation.” Hours later, just after midnight, the same account published a second message referring to, “Chile’s international reputation, based on international cooperation and commitment to freedom, is one of our main hallmarks. Citizens were clear on 14.12.25, with 58% support. That is the mandate, and from the Foreign Ministry, we will defend it.”
These posts prompted a strong critical reaction, including questions from figures like academic Paz Zárate, political scientist Danilo Herrera, and lawyer Catalina Fernández.
The most sensitive point arose afterward: shortly after 1 AM, the account @Perez_Mackenna was suspended by the X platform. Internally, it was confirmed that the official account of the Chilean chancellor is @MinPerezMac, not the one referred to by the Israeli foreign minister.
Lawyer Catalina Fernández provided a key detail: the suspended account had previously been used by Pérez Mackenna during his time at the OPE (Office of the Elected President), leading to the hypothesis of either an error in using an old account or, alternatively, potential impersonation.
Compounding the issue, internal sources assert that neither the chancellor nor the Foreign Ministry made the posts attributed to that account.
So far, neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Government has issued an official clarification. The situation raises significant questions from an institutional and digital security perspective: Was there identity theft? Why did the Israeli chancellor tag an incorrect account? And more critically, how did he gain access to that account to tag the chancellor?
Beyond this specific incident, the case illustrates a clear vulnerability in diplomatic communications in the age of social media, where a mistake—or manipulation—can rapidly escalate into an international controversy.
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