"Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric, described the revocation of visas for three officials from his country announced by the United States Department of State as an 'arbitrary, unilateral and surprising' measure, speaking from Easter Island in the Valparaiso region on Friday. Boric also reported that the Chilean top diplomat summoned the US ambassador to request explanations. "Our foreign minister, Alberto Van Klaveren, has summoned the United States ambassador [Brandon Judd] to the foreign ministry to ask for explanations regarding this arbitrary, unilateral and surprising measure that, from our point of view, has no justification whatsoever," the president said. Moreover, Boric noted that his government will prioritise "the interests of Chile, of Chilean men and women above any other consideration of any other country." "We do not accept impositions from any other [country] regarding the sovereign decisions taken in Chile," he added and ruled out "any type of threat to regional, national or hemispheric security", as stated in the Department of State statement justifying the measure. In the document, the US authority stated that the sanctioned officials "directed, authorised, financed, provided significant support and/or carried out activities that compromised critical telecommunications infrastructure and undermined regional security in our hemisphere." The minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Munoz, confirmed the cancellation of his visa and that of his immediate family members in statements to the press. The US actions were reportedly due to the support of the Boric government for the Chile-China Express (CCE) submarine cable project, which aims to directly connect Valparaiso with Hong Kong. This issue has been viewed with suspicion in Washington due to its geopolitical implications."