Washington DC - Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday the US would refuse visas to three outgoing Chilean officials, in a parting shot at leftist President Gabriel Boric.

Rubio, a Cuban American and fierce opponent of Latin American leftists, has hailed the election victory of Boric's far-right successor Jose Antonio Kast, who campaigned like President Donald Trump on promises of mass deportations of migrants.

Kast takes office on March 11.

Rubio said the three officials, whom he did not name, "compromised critical telecommunications infrastructure and undermined regional security in our hemisphere," without specifying further.

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"In its twilight, the Boric government's legacy shall be further tarnished by actions that undermine regional security at the ultimate expense of the Chilean people," Rubio said in a statement.

"We look forward to advancing shared priorities, including those that strengthen security in our hemisphere, with the incoming Kast administration."

Chile's foreign ministry said it "categorically denies participating in activities that undermine the security of the continent or of third countries," and summoned US Ambassador Brandon Judd.

Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto van Klaveren said Washington had acted in response to two unidentified Chinese companies requesting authorization to lay a seabed cable connecting the South American country and Hong Kong.

"The United States government believes that this cable could somehow pose a threat to its security," van Klaveren said in a statement.

According to local media, the project involves a proposed fiber optic cable dubbed the Chile-China Express and multinational wireless provider China Mobile. Van Klaveren said the proposal was in an early stage of evaluation.

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The Chilean government said it had not been informed of the identities of two of the three officials whose visas were rejected.

Transport Minister Juan Carlos Munoz confirmed Friday that he was one of the three. "I deeply regret this," he said in a video.

During his tenure, Boric, a 40-year-old former student activist, carried out socialist reforms including reducing the working week. He had a warm relationship with Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.

Since Trump returned to power, the US has ramped up pressure on communist Cuba and initially on the elected leftist presidents of Brazil and Colombia – although both have since moved to more civil relationships with Washington.

Trump on January 3 ordered an attack in Venezuela in which US forces abducted leftist President Nicolas Maduro.