“There are politicians from the Fisheries Law who came out free of dust and straw,” declared the deputy of the Democratic Revolution (Frente Amplio) Jorge Brito, who headed the Fisheries Commission during the first stage of processing the Law that seeks to annul the controversy. “Law Longueira”. In an interview with the news portal El Desconcierto, the parliamentarian, one of the promoters of the annulment of the law, warned of strong pressure from the fishing industry in order to spoil the initiative.
Along with lamenting the absence of four senators in the Upper House commission that would see the law that annuls the Fishing Law enacted in the first government of Sebastián Piñera, Brito expressed his disagreement with the low number of parliamentarians convicted of corruption in the context of this law, since only former UDI senator Jaime Orpis and Marta Isasi, deputy of that same party, were convicted by the Justice.
“Here there are politicians from the Fisheries Law who came out free of dust and chaff when they did various favors to the industry, here I am referring, for example, to then Senator Fulvio Rossi who acted together with Senator Jaime Orpis and wittily made an indication which allowed Corpesca to save billions of pesos”, he declared. “I have estimated that today we are talking about Corpesca saving, thanks to these clever ideas, around $15,000 million in tax payments to the Treasury. The Internal Revenue Service desisted from persevering in the Asipes edge of the Corrupt Fisheries Law that was the one that involved these characters, ”he added.
Likewise, Brito denounced the enormous pressure exerted by the industry on parliamentarians. “They have come directly to the Commission. They have insisted on private hearings, I have not agreed to any, I have told them that I will always receive them, but in transparent instances, facing all of Chile and that is why we receive anyone who wants to be heard in the Fisheries Commission when I was president. We received representatives from the industrial fishing association, people from Corpesca. They use the unions a lot and pay them plane tickets every week, even before the pandemic, to come to Congress to defend the interests of the industry,” said the deputy.
“What hurts them (the industry) is that we go for the nullity of public law and not for the modifications as the government of Sebastián Piñera wanted to do. When Piñera sent the project to the Senate, the industry went to expose it, he said that if their fishing rights were restricted in perpetuity they were going to request compensation. I understand that they want money, but they must understand that we want to restore the rule of law, protect marine ecosystems and claim artisanal fishing, ”he added.
Likewise, deputy Brito criticized the aforementioned absence from the respective commission of senators Alejandro Kusanovic (Independent, pro-National Renewal), Iván Moreira (UDI) and Jorge Soria (Independent, pro-PPD) and, especially, the socialist Fidel Espinoza , since, as Brito said, it was difficult for him to understand that “a parliamentarian bases his position on Twitter and does not attend the Commission where he is paid to go to see the projects, ask questions and present his legitimate position.” “That senators commit to righting the wrong that many of their own caused,” he added.
