CHILE

On November 16, the Senate concluded the session in which it rejected the impeachment process against President Sebastián Piñera for alleged irregularities in the sale of a mining project. Although the endorsement of the impeachment received more votes than the support for the president, the motion was rejected because the chamber did not achieve the two thirds required to move forward with the impeachment.

It should be noted that the impeachment process is part of an investigation derived from the Pandora Papers for alleged irregularities in the sale of the Dominga mining project in 2010. According to the journalistic information, the Piñera family had managed to carry out a purchase and sale operation conditioned to the fact that the sector in which the mine would be located would not be declared an exclusion zone. 

As a summary of the legislators who promoted the impeachment, the position of Senator Alejandro Navarro (País Progresista – opposition) stands out. Navarro considered that the journalistic information on the irregularities in the mining operation was sufficient to move forward with the impeachment. 

At the same time, he pointed out that, by rejecting the accusation, Congress demonstrated “to defend the practice of a president who puts his economic interest above the interest of the Nation”. He also said that, once Piñera’s term of office is over, the Legislative Branch could move forward with a new impeachment trial against Piñera to disqualify him from holding future public office.