An incident of harassment and violence against Minister Ximena Lincolao at Universidad Austral in Valdivia has sparked intense criticism due to its aggressive nature. The incident, characterized by insults and the official being cornered, was analyzed by Gabriel Zaliasnik, a professor of Criminal Law at the University of Chile.
Zaliasnik compared the scene of public humiliation to the logic of the Inquisition's ancientauto-da-fé. According to the academic, the presence of the official acted as a catalyst for a group seeking to punish an adversary rather than engage in debate.
The university as a stage for punishment
The professor noted that the university has ceased to be a space for discussion, transforming instead into a stage for political atonement. In this context, the official is not treated as a legitimate interlocutor, but as a target for venting moral outrage.
“The goal is not to refute her, nor is she invited to respond; rather, she is expected to endure the ritual of condemnation,” Zaliasnik wrote in his column.
The academic warned that practices such as public shaming and denunciations degenerate into a drama of purification. For him, the core of these acts is not the pursuit of justice for a grievance, but the pleasure of punishing an opponent.
Zaliasnik also linked these events to the work of Elias Canetti, noting that in such environments, intelligence yields to the crowd. He stated that institutions meant to promote critical thinking are instead falling into primitive forms of intolerance.
Finally, the professor warned that the events in Valdivia are not an isolated incident. He viewed the episode as a warning sign of the spirit of intolerance present within sectors of the Chilean far-left.
