The Socialist Youth of Los Ríos repudiated on Sunday the aggressions against Science Minister Ximena Lincolao at Universidad Austral in Valdivia, but accused the Government of fostering a climate of hate and harassing their militants. Government officials identified students as responsible and demanded sanctions. Various political actors reacted to the Wednesday incident.
On Wednesday, during the academic year inauguration at Universidad Austral in Valdivia, Science Minister Ximena Lincolao was attacked upon leaving by a group of people, some hooded, with pushes, shouts, insults, water, and blunt objects, according to the Government-filed lawsuit.
Interior Minister Claudio Alvarado stated that "we already know who they are," describing the perpetrators as students and student leaders with prior calls for demonstrations. Government spokesperson Mara Sedini told El Mercurio that there are "left-radicalized sectors for whom this is a form of action."
On Sunday, the Socialist Youth of Los Ríos issued a statement rejecting "any act of violence," but denounced a "climate of violence permanently installed by the Republican Party Government" and systematic harassment of their militants. PC president Lautaro Carmona called the attack a "political error" that "changed the axis" of the debate, criticizing Sedini's statements as anticommunist prejudices.
Housing Minister Iván Poduje criticized rector Egon Montecinos for "lack of leadership" and demanded expulsion of those responsible, loss of free tuition, and judicial processes, highlighting racist insults against Lincolao.
