Scandal at Universidad San Sebastián: Cubillos, Guerra, and Squella Face Charges Over Questionable Salaries and Hiring Practices

In December 2025, the Superintendence of Higher Education filed charges against Universidad San Sebastián (USS), questioning payments made to a group of 15 individuals, including political figures such as former Minister under Sebastián Piñera, Marcela Cubillos, president of the Republican Party, Arturo Squella, and former regional prosecutor Manuel Guerra. Guerra has been accused by the public prosecutor of serious bribery, administrative malfeasance, and violation of secrecy in relation to the so-called Hermosilla Case.

This action came after a thorough 15-month investigation concluded that many of the salaries paid by the institution exceeded the ranges defined by its own regulations and uncovered irregularities in academic hiring practices.

Marcela Cubillos: The Million-Dollar Salary that Opened Pandora’s Box

According to reports from Reportea, the investigation began in September 2024, following revelations by El Mostrador that Marcela Cubillos, former Minister of Education during the second presidency of Sebastián Piñera, was earning a gross salary of $17 million. It was found that her responsibilities as an educator and researcher did not align with the magnitude of that compensation. In fact, it was determined that she did not fully comply with the duties for which she was being paid, including during the time she was out of the country.

It was also indicated that Cubillos’ hiring would have violated internal regulations that require a master’s degree for regular academic positions, a qualification she did not hold.

Notably, in response to the controversy, the former minister defended her salary, claiming that Chile has freedom of hiring in the private sector.

In light of this situation, the regulatory body decided to request documentation from USS and initiate an inquiry that unveiled a web of irregularities.

After 15 months, the investigation’s conclusions were drawn, and last December, USS executives received formal charges. According to internal sources consulted by Reportea, the report contests the hiring and payments of around 15 individuals, most of whom are linked to political parties.

Detected Irregularities

The detected irregularities are grouped into two areas: the first pertains to salary payments that allegedly violated USS’s own established guidelines, exemplified by the exorbitant salary received by Marcela Cubillos.

The second area involves irregular hires, where personnel were brought on board without adherence to established criteria or qualifications necessary for academic or managerial positions.

This implies that individuals lacking sufficient academic credentials, or failing to meet all regulatory requirements, were nonetheless integrated into the university staff, in some cases taking on high-responsibility roles.

When contacted by the aforementioned media outlet, USS representatives were unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, the Superintendence of Higher Education stated that they would not comment on ongoing cases, adhering to the confidentiality that has characterized this process since its inception.

Following the charges filed late last year, the university submitted its observations to the Superintendence, which is in a position to impose sanctions. According to journalist Sergio Sepúlveda’s article for Reportea, «this is something that should occur in the coming days.»

In 2025, USS was sanctioned for maintaining a «phantom campus» in the city of Rancagua between 2018 and 2022, and due to this recurrence, it is unlikely that the regulator will apply another written reprimand, which is the lowest penalty stipulated by law.

The file from this investigation is explosive, and as of now, remains under wraps. The inquiry, which lasted 15 months, concluded that many of the salaries paid by the institution were beyond the ranges defined by its own regulations and identified irregularities in academic hiring practices, impacting approximately 15 individuals, including high-profile political leaders like former Minister Marcela Cubillos and Republican Party president Arturo Squella, as well as former eastern regional prosecutor Manuel Guerra, who was charged with bribery in a facet of the Hermosilla case.

USS: A Cash Drawer for Politics?

The report also raises concerns that «within the university, positions are divided». Two staff members in managerial roles, speaking to the cited media outlet under anonymity, admitted that there was an awareness of political hiring, «such as support for leaders who had lost an election or were temporarily unemployed.»

They even referred to hiring and payments to figures who, despite not being part of or belonging to the political parties, were nonetheless «recruited to demonstrate influence».

The investigative media recalled that at the time the Hermosilla case was exposed, it was uncovered that several of its protagonists had ties to the academic institution.

«At the time, Andrés Chadwick was the Dean of the Faculty of Law, and Supreme Court Minister Ángela Vivanco was an educator, as was her fellow high court member, Jean Pierre Matus. Also present was former Housing Minister Felipe Ward, who held the position of Vice-Rector of the Santiago campus. Manuel Guerra had been an educator since 2021,» the report specified.

USS also employed a group of political figures who had served in Sebastián Piñera’s second government, including Sebastián Sichel (former Minister of Social Development), Julio Isamit (former Minister of National Goods), Enrique Paris (former Minister of Health), Víctor Pérez (former Minister of the Interior), Juan José Ossa (former Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency), and Rodrigo Ubilla (former Undersecretary of the Interior). The list included former deputies Gonzalo Arenas and Rodrigo Álvarez, both from the UDI.

Reportea noted that it «could not confirm how many of them are part of the sanction process underway by the Superintendence of Higher Education against USS.»

The Case of Arturo Squella: From Congress to USS

However, it was confirmed that Arturo Squella, current senator for Valparaíso and president of the Republican Party, was hired by the institution in 2018 after leaving Congress, where he served as a deputy for eight years.

Upon joining the university, he taught constitutional law and held the position of director of the Center for Public Law and Society. Although no information is currently available regarding his salary, «internal sources indicate that his compensation was significantly higher than that of other educators with similar teaching loads and tenure.»

The Controversial Hiring of Former Prosecutor Guerra

Former eastern regional prosecutor Manuel Guerra is currently facing charges of serious bribery, violation of secrecy, and administrative malfeasance for his ties to attorney Luis Hermosilla.

His hiring at USS has been a focal point of the investigations, as the prosecution believes it may have been linked to decisions made during his tenure at the Public Prosecutor’s Office, representing one form of how bribery was materialized.

Guerra was hired in 2021 with a salary of $6.3 million for part-time work.

It is important to recall that the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office originated from messages found on Luis Hermosilla’s phone, which revealed the operations conducted by former Minister Andrés Chadwick and Manuel Guerra to close cases involving subjects of interest.

Some investigations that allegedly ended in impunity due to the actions of G uerra and Chadwick included the Penta case, which involved prominent figures from the UDI, and the Dominga case, which implicated former President Sebastián Piñera.

The day after leaving the prosecutor’s office, Guerra was hired as a full professor at the Faculty of Law of Universidad San Sebastián, where Andrés Chadwick was also teaching. The former Minister of the Interior would later be promoted to dean and eventually to chairman of the board.

This contract is currently under scrutiny from the Public Prosecutor’s Office due to the substantial amounts Guerra began receiving after leaving the prosecutor’s office.

«According to the prosecution, Guerra’s arrival at USS was a reward for the closure of those cases, including illegal political financing from Penta, the use of false receipts by senator Iván Moreira (UDI) to finance his campaign, the sale of the Dominga mine involving the Piñera Morel family, and the role of Santiago Valdés in Piñera’s electoral campaign,» Sepúlveda indicated in the article for Reportea.

A University Under Scrutiny

In addition to the aforementioned cases, USS has faced criticism regarding the quality of some of its programs, the working conditions of its adjunct faculty, and its close ties to political and economic groups.

In the coming days, when the Superintendence of Higher Education issues the sanction against USS, the institution will have 20 days to request reconsideration. University sources consulted by Reportea did not rule out approaching the courts to attempt to contest the regulatory body’s ruling on higher education.

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