Official supports Pinera before the criminal investigation by Pandora Papers

Santiago de Chile, October 9 (EFE). The leaders of the four political parties that make up the official coalition of Chile Vamos supported the country’s president, Sebastian Pinera, this Saturday, in the face of the criminal investigation opened against him over the alleged allegation. Irregularities have been detected in Pandora’s papers.

Representatives of the Autonomous Democratic Union (UDI), National Renewal (RN), Political Evolution (Evópoli) and the Regional Democratic Autonomous Party (PRI) held a meeting with Piñera at Government House, Palacio de La Moneda, to learn more about the first background to the case.

At the end of the meeting, the president of the National Front, Francisco Chahuan, spoke to the press about a “signal of support” for the president by the coalition.

The Chilean Attorney General’s Office announced on Friday the opening of an investigation into possible bribery, bribery and tax crimes allegedly committed by Pinera when he was sold in 2010 for his participation in the massive mining project called Minera Dominga.

This deal contained a payment clause linked to environmental policies and was implemented in the British Virgin Islands tax haven shortly after Pinera began his first term in office (2010-2014), according to Bandura Papers, the publication published last Sunday, the position of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ( ICIJ), in collaboration with Chilean media CIPER and LaBot.

The facts were investigated by Chilean Justice in 2017 and the case was dismissed, but the Attorney General, Jorge Abbott, maintains that what was disclosed in the Bandura papers was not included among those investigated at the time.

“We had a conversation (with Piñera) that confirmed what we already know regarding the Dominga case. Whatever has come up with a lot of fireworks these days, we confirmed that these situations were known in 2017, which were investigated,” UDI President Javier Macaya told reporters.

Against Pinera, there is also a constitutional accusation (dismissal) that the opposition is preparing in Congress and this could end with his dismissal and disqualification from holding public office.

In light of this, Chahwan said the slander is a “firework that seeks to strike a white-knuckle blow to Chile’s democracy” and that “the arguments put forward in public, we affirm that there is nothing new about what the courts of justice have found.”

On Friday, Pinera said he did not understand opening this investigation into facts already tried in 2017 and that he was “absolutely confident” the judge would once again proclaim his innocence. EFE

rfg / c

© EFE 2021. Redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the contents of the Efe Services, without the prior and express consent of EFE SA, is expressly prohibited.