Former top official in Chile is arrested on rape charges in a blow to President Boric

SANTIAGO, Chile -- A former senior official in Chile's government was arrested Thursday on suspicion of rape, authorities said, in a case that has shocked the South American country and dented domestic support for leftist President Gabriel Boric.

Manuel Monsalve, 59, who until last month served as Chile’s deputy interior minister and played a key role in strategizing the country's fight against a rise in organized crime, faces accusations of raping a 32-year-old female staffer in a hotel room after meeting her for dinner in September.

Monsalve has denied committing any crime. He stepped down on Oct. 17 when prosecutors announced they had launched an investigation into the female official’s complaint, touching off public outrage and putting further pressure on Boric, a 38-year-old millennial ex-student protest leader who took office in 2022 promising to create a “feminist government.”

For over two and a half years, Monsalve, a doctor and former socialist activist, was at the forefront of the government's campaign against a recent gang-driven crime wave that has rattled Chile, long considered one of Latin America's safest and most stable nations.

Police on Thursday arrested Monsalve at his house in the seaside resort of Viña del Mar and transferred him by car to custody in Chile's capital of Santiago, 128 km (80 miles) away. He was led in handcuffs by detectives into the station to give a statement.

President Boric, who testified as a witness in the case last week, responded to the arrest of his former top official with a brief post on social media platform X that did not name Monsalve.

“In Chile, no one is above the law,” he wrote.

The rape scandal marks a blow for Boric, whose popularity has declined in the polls and at the ballot box — where right-wing parties gained against the president's left-wing coalition in last month's regional elections, regarded as an important bellwether for the 2025 presidential vote.

Boric's government has come under fire for its handling of the case, with the president waiting two days after the allegations surfaced to dismiss Monsalve from his post and giving a widely criticized news conference in which he revealed that Monsalve had requested to view hotel security footage before the plaintiff had even lodged the complaint.

The prosecutor's office also said Monsalve, while still in charge of public security, sought to use police to investigate the case secretly and reach out to the “inner circle” of the victim, who had worked under Monsalve in the Interior Ministry. Monsalve's lawyers have denied those allegations.

Chile’s politically ambitious interior minister, Carolina Tohá, whose reputation has also suffered from the charges against her second-in-command, promised the ongoing investigation would "bring justice to bear.”

“Only in this way can we provide answers to the victims, restore social trust and reaffirm the rule of law,” she said.