It was nothing less than The Mercury the medium that revealed that the Chinese company that would bring the controversial submarine cable, CMI Chile, registered its address in our country in the office in Las Condes of the Barros & Errázuriz law firm, founded by José Antonio Kast’s future Minister of Defense, Fernando Barros.
The decree that allowed the construction of the fiber optic cable that would link Hong Kong with Concón, registered the address at the address of the studio founded by Barros, at Isidora Goyenechea N° 2939, office 1001, Torre Bosque Isidora, commune of Las Condes
In response to the aforementioned media, the law firm explained that they collaborated in the constitution of the company in Chile, in August 2025. For his part, Barros did not want to comment, but from those around him they assured that he was never directly involved in the negotiations with the Chinese company.
Now, the legal representation before the 36th Notary Office of Santiago was exercised by the son of former Minister Gerardo Varela, Lucas Varela Barros, who carried out the arrangements for the constitution of the Chinese company.
The firm’s website details that Varela joined Barros & Errázuriz as an associate in March 2024, after graduating in Law from the University of Los Andes in 2023, highlighting that: “He has focused his practice on advising local and international clients in the area of mergers and acquisitions and corporate law.”
In the deed, CMI Chile SpA establishes that the company’s object is “the provision of all types of telecommunications services, including submarine cable landing services, international telecommunications services, cloud network services and data centers, information technology and digital communications services for companies and consulting related to communications, internet access services, fiber optic services, and all types of services developed on the Internet platform and telephone services, in any of their modalities and forms,” among other related services.
Likewise, it points out that it may carry out “the acquisition, sale, marketing, leasing, subleasing or any other form of exploitation of real estate, as well as the subdivision, subdivision, construction and urbanization thereof, on its own behalf or on behalf of others.”
As capital, the company set the sum of US$3 million, divided into 30,000 shares, to be paid within five years from the date of signing the public deed of incorporation.
According to the trade registry, the parent company, China Mobile International UK Limited, appointed Shuai Liu and Xuan Chen as representatives.
The first carried out lobbying efforts in 2025 before the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, Claudio Araya (PC). In addition, he has had the advice of the lawyer and former Undersecretary of Telecommunications of Sebastián Piñera, Francisco Moreno.
