In the opinion of parliamentarian Boris Barrera of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh), Cariola has been the victim of a crude political operation to discredit her work.

Meanwhile, Jaime Naranjo, an independent close to the Socialist Party, warned “there has been an attempt here to launch a campaign to destroy and kill Cariola’s image.”

On March 3, the Investigative Police raided the congresswoman’s home, three hours after she gave birth to her first child, as part of an investigation into alleged influence peddling.

Following these events, the right-wing Social Christian Party filed a motion of censure against her, which was rejected in the Lower House by 72 votes to 52, with one abstention.

Added to this was the leak from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of private messages from more than two years ago between Cariola and the then mayor of Santiago, Irací Hassler, in which they criticized the government’s progress.

Representative Luis Cuello, of the PCCh, described the Prosecutor’s Office’s release of chats that are of no public interest to a media outlet as scandalous.

“The Public Prosecutor’s Office is being used illegitimately,” said Cuello, who filed a complaint with the National Prosecutor’s Office for breach of confidentiality.

After highlighting his work as head of the Lower House, Representative Jaime Mulet, of the Green Social Regionalist Front, lamented that the alarm generated by the leaked private conversations is hastening his departure.

“I hope prosecutors focus on pursuing criminals and not media hype,” she wrote on her X account.

Tomas Hirsch, of the Humanist Party, described the attacks against the parliamentarian as brutal and unjustified.

Karol Cariola (Santiago, April 1, 1987), a graduate midwife, former student leader, and Communist Party activist, has been elected to the House of Representatives for two consecutive terms (2018-2022 and 2022-2026). In the 2021 elections, she was the legislator with the most votes nationwide.

On April 15, 2024, she became the first member of the Communist Party (PCCh) to win the presidency of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies.

However, during her term, she has faced three attempts at censure by the conservative Social Christian Party.

“All attempts at censure against Karol Cariola are based on her being a communist,” recently declared the vice president of the chamber, Eric Aedo, of the Christian Democrats. ef/ga/car