LIVE | Senate of Chile decides possible removal of President Piñera due to Pandora Papers Case

The Senate of Chile began that Tuesday a session that will decide the eventual removal of the president Sebastian Piñera for the case revealed in the Pandora Papers on the controversial sale of a mining company in an operation carried out in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands.

Nevertheless, The indictment promoted by the center and left opposition, approved last week in the Chamber of Deputies, does not have the 29 votes necessary in the Senate for the president to be removed from office. If they voted en bloc in favor of the removal of Piñera, they would only reach 24.

This is the second attempted impeachment of the president of Chile, which took office in March 2018 and which after the social crisis of 2019 failed to recover from one of the most difficult periods in the 31 years of democracy.

The Upper House established for this Tuesday a special double session in Parliament that will last for more than 10 hours to address the terms on which the Dominga mining by a company of his sons in 2010, revealed by the work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), known as Pandora Papers.

“We come with the conviction to have a deep and serious debate, so that once and for all corruption is taken seriously. You can’t keep lowering the profile, you can’t minimize or naturalize it “asked one of the accusing deputies, Leonardo Soto, from the Socialist Party.

Senator Manuel José Ossandón, from the right-wing party of the ruling National Renovation coalition, assured that it will be a “day of study, of reflection, of listening to the people who accuse and also those who defend, but you have to vote conscientiously. My hand is not going to shake to decide either of the two alternatives, “he warned.

If the Senate rejects the accusation, it will have no effect on the president.

The operation

Last week, the Chamber of Deputies held a marathon and historic session in which the socialist deputy Jaime Naranjo read 1,300 pages of arguments for almost 15 hours waiting to have the necessary votes to process the accusation against Piñera, which was approved after almost 24 hours.

Piñera is accused of violating the principle of probity and the right to live in a pollution-free environment, and for having compromised the honor of the nation.

According to the investigation of the Chilean media CIPER and LaBot, included in the Pandora Papers, the sons of Pinera they sold the Dominga mining to the businessman Carlos Alberto Delano – an intimate friend of the president – for 152 million dollars.

The operation, which took place during the first Piñera government (2010-2014), was mostly carried out in the Virgin Islands.

The payment had to be made in three installments. A controversial clause made the last payment conditional on “not establishing an area of ​​environmental protection over the area of ​​operations of the mining company, as claimed by environmental groups.”

Once Pinera assumed power, this area, which encompasses a true natural treasure on the shores of the Pacific, was not considered as a protection zone recommended by his predecessor Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010).

The session

The opposition has a majority in the Senate with 24 seats, but the 19 votes of the ruling party, who would vote against removing Piñera, are enough to stop the process.

“Today a precedent can be established, which would honor us Chileans. May we always have honest presidents, who do not benefit from the position”, Indicated the Socialist Senator Rabindranath Quinteros before starting the session and after acknowledging that they do not have the necessary votes.

“I wish that (the Senate) were unanimous in rejecting this absolutely unfounded, absolutely false accusation”, highlighted the secretary general of the government, Jaime Bellolio.

The session is divided into two parts: first the three deputies appointed to present the accusation before the Senate -which exercises the role of jury- will speak, then the defense will speak.

After the replies, there will be a pause and a new session will be opened in the afternoon for each senator to argue their vote for 15 minutes. It is estimated that around 10:00 p.m. local time (01:00 GMT, Wednesday) the voting will take place.

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