Deputy Winter Demands Transparency from President Kast on Meeting with Controversial Tech Mogul Peter Thiel

Deputy Gonzalo Winter of the Frente Amplio has formally requested that the Presidency disclose details regarding a reported meeting between President José A. Kast and tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, which provides data analysis and software services to agencies like the CIA, FBI, and the U.S. military.

Thiel visited Chile this May on a private trip without an official agenda; however, reports emerged of several meetings involving him, including discussions with José Piñera, a key figure behind the AFP pension system and the current Mining Code, as well as the former presidential candidate Johannes Kaiser, and potentially with José A. Kast himself.

In a post on his social media, Deputy Winter stated, «There are reports that President José Antonio Kast clandestinely and opaquely met with the tech oligarch Peter Thiel, a person involved in genocides and human rights violations in the U.S., who surveils citizens through data systems under contracts with the government.»

Winter emphasized, «Thus, any conversation this individual has with a head of state, of our republic, which controls our data and has our digital fingerprints, is of utmost importance.»

The lawmaker recalled that «this tech oligarch is not just anyone; he exhibits an anti-democratic ideology, believing that regulating technology—which means limiting the power of such oligarchs—is contrary to what the world should aspire to; in his view, it should be a world governed by him and his friends, without any oversight or voice from citizens who provide the data they profit from and rule over us.»

«The question is obvious: What did the President talk about with a man who claims that freedom and democracy are incompatible? Were potential contracts involving Palantir discussed with the state of Chile?» Winter asked, stressing that these are legitimate concerns of public interest as they involve sensitive issues for the nation.

Given the circumstances, the deputy urged President Kast to be transparent with the public: «Did I meet with this individual, or did I not? And if I did meet with him, what did we discuss, what was requested, and what implications does that have for our lives?»