One of the commandos for the Rejection, “Here We Are for Chile”, added a large economic contribution to its campaign, coming from the Ossandón Larraín family, according to information provided by the Electoral Service (Servel). This is a total sum of $50 million, divided into $12.5 million for each member of the family group: the patriarch Gabriel Ossandón Valdés, in addition to three of his children, Gabriel, María Teresa and Bernardo Ossandón Larraín.
The millionaire family has direct political ties with RN, economic relations in real estate deals, and religious connections in Opus Dei. It is also worth mentioning that the clan has faced different legal disputes, which only began to be resolved at the beginning of 2022. Among them, is the fight for the inheritance of Bernardo Larraín Vial -equivalent to more than 1,000 hectares of land located in La Dehesa- and the dispute over the administration of some family businesses, in addition to other issues.
A conflict that was only resolved in the first days of this year, when the brothers Manuel and Bernardo Ossandón Larraín reached an agreement to put an end to the litigation for a family fortune that amounts to US$1,000 million, and that dragged on for more than one of each. It should be remembered that Manuel accused his brother of defrauding him and of taking control of US $200 million in shares of the family parent company – Lomas II -, while Bernardo denounced a series of unfounded legal actions. The agreement consisted in Manuel Ossandón abandoning the family businesses, in exchange for a promissory note for an estimated figure of US$100 million.
But the controversy does not end there, because Manuel – in addition to fighting for more than a decade in a legal fight with his own family – owes more than $1,400 million in taxes. The grandson of tycoon Bernardo Larraín Vial, who is based in Miami, has secretly transferred his assets to related companies, with the probable objective of avoiding the payment of his tax debt, as described Pulse.
The main source of wealth for the Ossandón Larraín family is their real estate assets: land that has been passed down from generation to generation, multiplying its commercial value. Added to this are financial instruments -mutual funds-, which are mainly managed by the brokerage firms Larraín Vial and Celfin Capital; water rights and shares in companies such as Entel, Cencosud, Corpbanca and Madeco. A fortune that, according to experts, is settled in areas that have privileged tax treatment, with “strong tax incentives.”
Many of the closest collaborators of the patriarch, Bernardo Ossandón, are men close to Opus Dei and Los Andes University. In the deeds of some of the family companies, the lawyer Orlando Poblete Iturrate, former Minister Secretary General of the Government of the Pinochet dictatorship and former rector of the aforementioned university, appears as arbitrator.
The contribution of the former minister of Sebastián Piñera: Félix de Vicente
Another of the donors to the Rejection campaign is the former Minister of Economy of the first government of Sebastián Piñera, Félix de Vicente, with a contribution of close to $2.8 million. The businessman is remembered for his controversial stint at the General Directorate for Export Promotion of the Chilean Foreign Ministry – ProChile – when he decided to renew 70% of his workers, where it is estimated that some 200 officials lost their jobs, including a large number of commercial attachés, who traditionally remained in their posts for five years from the time they were appointed through an internal competition.
De Vicente, together with businessman Juan Riesco, owns the Santiago Heliport, located in Huechuraba. An enclosure that has been operating for some years without proper municipal authorization, and that also maintains a fuel loading area that is not indicated within the original project delivered to the authorities, and that, according to details from the municipality, does not have the documentation of the Superintendence of Electricity and Fuels (SEC). It is a place located just meters from the town of El Barrero, from where its neighbors have complained for several years after the installation of the track.
