Original article: De candidata RN a escándalos de corrupción “Hermosilla” y “Muñeca Bielorrusa”: El perfil de la exSuprema Ángela Vivanco
Angela Vivanco: From Political Career to Judicial Authority
Angela Vivanco Martínez, a 62-year-old attorney, built a public career that transitioned from right-wing political factions to the highest court of justice, ultimately embroiled in some of the most significant corruption scandals of recent decades.
Her active political engagement began in 1992 when she joined the Unión de Centro Centro (UCC), founded by businessman Francisco Javier Errázuriz. She quickly rose to vice president, becoming the party’s secretary-general that same year and later assuming the presidency in January 1995. Her ambition for a seat in the Lower House reflected her ties to more traditional conservative sectors, as she ran as a candidate for Renovación Nacional in the 1997 parliamentary elections in district 27, though she was not elected.
Alongside her political career, Vivanco established a strong profile in the private and academic sectors. She served as a legal advisor for Empresas UC and the National Television Association and held positions as a prosecutor at AFP Planvital and the National Renta Insurance Company. Additionally, she taught at private universities—such as Católica, del Desarrollo, de los Andes, and Adolfo Ibáñez—and served as dean and academic vice-rector at Universidad Santo Tomás from 2011 to 2016. Her conservative thinking solidified in 2015 when she participated in the document «Chile does not need a New Constitution,» created by the UDI, defending the legacy of the 1980 Constitution.
Her influence within the state apparatus grew in 2018 when President Sebastián Piñera nominated her as a Supreme Court minister. Her confirmation by the Senate, with 30 votes in favor, marked the pinnacle of a career characterized by her public defense of governmental coalition positions, including her representation of Chile Vamos in the abortion debate regarding three causes, and her backing of a legal action concerning conscientious objection regarding that law. Between 2022 and 2023, her role expanded as she took on the position of official spokesperson for the Supreme Court, where she was part of the crucial Third Chamber, responsible for rulings on constitutional, health, and environmental matters.
However, her tenure on the Supreme Court was marked by significant controversies. In 2022, her public criticisms of the constitutional convention’s justice standards earned her backlash for her evident political activism.
A pivotal moment came during her interview in La Tercera in June 2023, where, still serving as the judiciary spokesperson, she commented on a sensitive ruling regarding isapres before the court deliberated, which was interpreted as severe interference and forced her resignation from her spokesperson role.
The definitive collapse of her judicial career occurred in September 2024 with the eruption of the Hermosilla Case. The judicial investigation disclosed an extensive and compromising network of instant message exchanges with lawyer Luis Hermosilla, accused of bribery and money laundering. The chats revealed a mutual favors relationship, including potential influence peddling by Hermosilla within the Executive and Parliament to support Vivanco’s nomination to the Court, as well as the provision of confidential information from the minister to aid Hermosilla’s cases, particularly those involving Carabineros and the PDI.
As an immediate consequence, the Supreme Court initiated a removal file and suspended her from her functions. The charges outlined significant interference in key appointments, such as the national prosecutor and conservators of real estate—irregularities concerning the case between the consortium Belaz Movitec and Codelco, meddling in the integration of court chambers, and collusion with Hermosilla to appoint aligned ministers. On October 10, 2024, the Court unanimously removed her from her position for «behavior that undermines the principles of independence, impartiality, honesty, integrity, and transparency,» making her the second minister ever to be dismissed by peers in 25 years. Additionally, the Senate barred her from holding public office for five years.
The Latest Scandal: Cash Bribes
While the Hermosilla Case was still fresh, a new and explosive journalistic investigation uncovered an even deeper and more direct level of corruption. According to an exclusive report from Reportea published on November 7, 2025, by Nicolás Sepúlveda, the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Los Lagos established a cash flow directly connecting Vivanco’s rulings with illegal payments. The scandal’s narrative, built from forensic analyses of cellphone antennas and electronic devices, is compelling: on July 4, 2023, hours after Vivanco ruled in favor of the Chilean-Belarusian consortium Belaz Movitec (CBM) in its litigation against Codelco, the then-minister went to the office of attorney Mario Vargas in Las Condes and received US$15,000 in cash.
This payment, which was not deposited into her bank accounts, marks the first bribe directly linked to Vivanco, separate from payments made to her partner, Gonzalo Migueles. The narrative from Reportea meticulously details the route: on that critical day, the court overturned a ruling from the Court of Appeals of Copiapó, forcing Codelco to return machinery and make pending payments to CBM amounting to 11.7 billion pesos, with Vivanco casting the decisive vote. Hours later, the antennas and electronic records place her in the building at El Regidor 66, on the 14th floor, where she received the money. This finding adds to two other documented payments: 45 million pesos handed to Migueles in June 2024 and US$14,000 at the end of 2023, used for luxury travel.
The Prosecutor’s thesis, presenting itself as a chronicle of systemic corruption, argues that each of Vivanco’s votes in favor of the Belarusian consortium had a financial counterpart. The internal judicial investigation of the Supreme Court had already confirmed that Vivanco expedited the hearing of the case irregularly, a key argument for her expulsion. Now, the criminal investigation, pending formalization of charges against Vivanco—protected by a special guarantee due to her former position—paints a picture of crimes that include bribery, corruption, and money laundering, ending with a grim epilogue for someone who was once one of the most powerful justices in the country.
