The Chilean Chamber of Deputies approved this Tuesday after a marathon debate a political trial against the president Sebastian Piñera, for its link in the controversial sale of the Dominga mining company in the Virgin Islands, a tax haven, revealed in the Pandora Papers.
The parliamentarians managed to gather the 78 votes that were required for the prosecution seeking the removal of the President of Chile to advance to the Senate.
Piñera’s lawyer, Jorge Gálvez, closed his defense before the plenary session and emphasized: “I beg you, honorable deputies and deputies, to reject this unjust and inadmissible constitutional accusation.”
The constitutional indictment, as this appeal is known in Chile that seeks the dismissal of President Piñera – who is in the final stretch of his second government that began in March 2018 – was presented the first week of October by the arc of the socialist position and left to the Government.
The debate began at 10:25 in the morning on Monday by the socialist deputy Jaime Naranjo, who read 1,300 pages for 15 hours to argue the legislative action against the president and so that in Chile “impunity” of those who have power ends. . This was one of the most listened to phrases and its content has a huge echo in this country after the social crisis that broke out in 2019.
Noting that in the case of Dominga an alleged incompatible negotiation was carried out, Naranjo said: “Acting as President he benefited (him) and his family directly, with information he had in the exercise of his position. And he continued negotiating and it made the price of Dominga go up, “he said about the operation carried out in 2010, when the president assumed his first government.
Now the accusation against the president goes to the Chamber of Senators, which would act as a jury to seal the future of Piñera, although in this instance he would not have the necessary votes to dismiss him and disqualify him for life from accessing public office.
