Chilean opposition accuses Pinora of rejecting Pandora documents

The Chilean opposition tabled a constitutional charge in the House of Representatives this Wednesday for the removal of President Sebastian Pinara. Then It is alleged that there were irregularities in the sale of the mining project revealed by Pandora Documents. MPs from all opposition parties, from the Communists to the Christian Democrats, rarely agree. The president accused the government of failing to pursue a policy of “compromising the morality and dignity of the nation.”. Deputies expressed their hope that the initiative could be debated and voted on in the first week of November, and if approved, it would go to the Senate.

The Chilean government came to its defense, accusing the opposition of making “an accusation without legal basis.” It is only seeking political revenue when it faces a presidential election next month. This will add to the constitutional charge The criminal investigation was opened a few days ago by the prosecutor’s office For the same function: Minera Dominga’s 2010 millionaire sale, until then owned by the Pinera family, to one of their closest friends through a tax haven in the Virgin Islands.

Reasons for Pinara’s accusation

“The reasons for this constitutional allegation are twofold: One, because The President has openly violated the Constitution regarding ethics, And secondly, by Seriously compromises the dignity of the nation“, Declared the Socialist deputy Jaime Narancho, Surrounded by representatives of all opposition benches. To Thomas Hirsch, vice president of the Asian Humanista, the constitutional indictment in Chile “marks a historic milestone” and presented “absolute opposition and all precedents at hand.”

Constitutional indictment is a process considered in Chilean law that empowers deputies to initiate a political investigation against a power of attorney and lead to the removal or disqualification of the accused from public office. For the mechanism to thrive, it needs the support of an absolute majority in the opposition-controlled House of Representatives and two-thirds of the Senate., A number that cannot be achieved by the votes of the opposition alone.

Although the ruling party appears to be fragmented and immersed in the campaign In the run-up to the November 21 presidential election, its key figures have shut down teams guarding the president. The case is unlikely to come to trial. However, divisions are beginning to emerge among the many pro-government representatives who have declared themselves in the “response”.

The protection of believers

The Chilean government said on Wednesday that there was no legal basis for the constitutional allegations made by the opposition. “We have never seen a lack of seriousness and seriousness in the history of Chile in the context of a constitutional charge.”, Said the Minister of the Presidential Secretariat. Juan Jose Ossa.

“It is important to present before the election to vote” In November, Osa warned that its ministry was committed to relations between the administration and parliament. The official spokesperson on the same page, Jaime PelolioHe promised: “We see very bad politics, but nothing can be done to win one or two votes and therefore damage democracy, As some far-left parliamentarians claim. ”

By the end of 2019, the president was already facing an indictment for the violent repression of mass protests against inequality.But, this effort did not prosper. Pinera is the second Chilean president to face charges. The previous one was Carlos Ipes del Combo in 1956, but the case was dismissed.

Bribery and tax crimes

The political inquiry joins the inquiry, which opened last week by the Chilean prosecutor’s office By Bribery and tax crimes Pinara is said to have made a sale in 2010 in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands. Mega Project Minera is part of its stake in Dominga. According to an investigation by the international media CIPER and LaBot, Minera Dominga was sold to the president’s friend and partner, businessman Carlos Alberto Delano, for $ 152 million as part of the International Federation of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The payment for the operation must be made in three installments and includes the controversial clause, which, as environmental groups have stated, created the final tariff package “not to establish an environmental protection area in the operational mine area”. Finally the unregulated environmental protection, depends on PinoraOne of the country’s key fortunes and first-time (2010-2014) presidency, a few months before the project went on sale, it is currently pending an appeal in the Supreme Court.

In your safety, Pinera promises that she did not know because Minera put Dominga’s assets under blind trusts in 2009.. In addition, he argued that the case was “Res Judicata.” The prosecutor’s office clarified Friday that there was no “res Judicata” because it was not “explicitly” included in the case..

Mining project, Approved by a regional court, but appeals to the Supreme Court are pending, Includes the exploitation of two open pit mines In the Atacama Desert, in the Kokimbo area, about 500 kilometers north of Santiago. It also involves the construction of a mineral loading port near an archipelago, where there is a national reserve, which contains 80% of the Humboldt penguin species, in addition to other protected species.