Original article: Reportea/UDP destapa red pro-AFP ligada a Fontaine (comando de Kast): influencers pagados contra reformas y troll que atacó a Matthei y Jara
The AFP Association (AAFP) is alleged to have secretly funded digital campaigns managed by the Ciudadanos en Acción foundation, led by economist Bernardo Fontaine, a current member of José Antonio Kast’s (Republican Party) campaign team. These initiatives aim to oppose any reforms to the pension system.
A collaborative investigation by Reportea and Vergara 240 from the UDP School of Journalism uncovered that the operation involved payments to influencers to spread messages defending the industry, which were widely circulated on social media through over $200 million in advertising expenses on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) over recent years.
Among this network is Matías Lorca, the influencer behind the «Canal de Mati» account, who allegedly participated in a digital troll campaign disseminating misinformation, aggressive messages, and harassment against presidential candidates Evelyn Matthei (UDI) and Jeannette Jara (PC).
Meanwhile, Lorca was also creating videos in defense of the industry for Fontaine’s foundation, which is funded by the AFP.
Fontaine and His AFP-Funded Foundation
Bernardo Fontaine, a right-wing economist and former constituent, is known for his strong defense of the AFP model. He joined José Antonio Kast’s presidential campaign last August, overseeing the design of measures for the first 100 days of government, should he win, while his son, also named Bernardo, is running for a congressional seat in the Republican Party’s lineup in El Maule.
According to investigative reports, his social media work has been financed and promoted with resources from insurers through the communications agency Artool, founded by former Secom of Piñera’s government, Jorge Selume.
Sources within the AAFP revealed that the agreement was established when Patricio Góngora—who resigned from Canal 13’s board last September after being discovered leading a virtual army of far-right trolls—was in charge of the entity’s Communications Management.
The report indicated that «the deal included funding for the Ciudadanos en Acción foundation through the Artool communications agency.»
«In AAFP meetings with Bernardo Fontaine, Francisco Lozada from Artool and Carolina Simpson, who manages communications for Fontaine, participated along with others. Discussions included plans to ‘do bad things,’ as they referred to this matter,» reported a marketing agency source who witnessed the coordination meetings.
These «bad things,» confirmed by a person who has held leadership positions within the AAFP, specifically referred to «the dissemination of messages on social media that benefited the industry, as well as attacks and insults against those promoting reforms.»
Coordination took place via Zoom and in-person meetings at the AAFP offices in Providencia and the Ciudadanos en Acción foundation in Vitacura. Participants stated that the AAFP provided «technical inputs» to Fontaine’s team for video creation, with payments going to the foundation through Artool.
Over $200 Million Spent on Paid Ads on Instagram and Facebook
The funding for this operation is documented in public advertising records on Meta and invoices accessed by the investigation.
According to findings, in May 2020, Ciudadanos en Acción began running ads on Facebook and Instagram related to a campaign against a proposal by a group of senators seeking to eliminate the AFP, whom they labeled as populists.
From that date until September 2025, Meta records show the foundation has spent $152.4 million on propagating advertising on Facebook and Instagram. This figure would need to include an additional $50.6 million spent on advertising from Con Mi Plata No, another of the organizations led by Fontaine used to defend the current pension system. Thus, the total exceeds $203 million, sourced—according to the investigation—from indirect funding by the AFP guild.
Executives from Artool openly acknowledged their collaborative efforts: «We do performance work for the Ciudadanos en Acción Foundation. We promote content for them. They continuously publish content, and Bernardo Fontaine has a voice, and we help promote those videos.»
AFP Influencers and the Troll Network
The report identified several influencers who received payment for creating content for Fontaine’s foundation without disclosing that the campaigns were financed by the AFP:
Notable among them is Catalina Olivares («Cata Libre»), regional manager of the Foundation for Progress, an ultraliberal think tank funded by businessman Nicolás Ibáñez in Valparaíso.
The investigation confirmed that Olivares frequently interacted with the troll network «that spread false news and aggression, which Evelyn Matthei’s team accused of being connected to the Republican Party.»
The article also mentions Benjamín Peña y Lillo («Benjapyl»), a current legislative advisor to Republican deputy Luis Sánchez, who appeared in Ciudadanos en Acción videos providing «technical critique» of the government’s pension reform bill set to be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies in January 2024.
Another influencer who received payments from Fontaine’s foundation was Matías Lorca, who circulated a manipulated video via his X account «@Canaldemati_» depicting candidate Evelyn Matthei as seemingly disoriented, coinciding with a smear campaign suggesting that the former mayor of Providencia suffered from Alzheimer’s, as alleged by her own political team from Chile Vamos.
«This doesn’t look good…» Lorca commented on the post accompanying that video.
«Simultaneously, Lorca featured in viral videos on Facebook and Instagram funded by the Ciudadanos en Acción Foundation. In this audiovisual material, he is seen conducting street surveys focused on the poor spending of taxpayer money in Chile, or giving speeches against pension reform,» the investigation noted.
The foundation also released recordings showing Matías Lorca defending the private health system, as well as others in which he criticized then-Minister of Labor and Social Security Jeannette Jara for unemployment figures, coinciding with the period where President Gabriel Boric’s government was pushing their pension reform project through Congress.
The Fontaine-Kast Connection and Republican Trolls
In September, when a report by CHV Noticias exposed the troll network supporting José Antonio Kast and attacking his opponents, including Matthei and Jara, Kast’s team denied any links to digital harassment campaigns and the spreading of false news. However, it was not then known that Lorca worked for the foundation of Fontaine, who is a member of his campaign team.
Most of the videos linking influencers to Fontaine’s foundation were deleted after the journalists responsible for the investigation sent inquiries to the AAFP. The insurers’ association stated they would not respond to questions, and members of the Ciudadanos en Acción foundation did not answer calls or messages.
Matías Lorca, in a video deleted within 24 hours, acknowledged having worked for Ciudadanos en Acción since September 2024, asserting that he issued receipts for services rendered and paid taxes.
