The network of corruption known as Caso convenios became the Achilles heel of the government of the Chilean president, gabriel boric, who came to power last year on the promise of renewing the old practices of politics, not only with new faces, but with a more transparent form of axis and connected to the needs of the people.
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However, a month ago, when it became known about the award of a million-dollar contract to Daniel Andrade, then the partner of the official deputy Catalina Pérez in the Antofagasta region (north), everything seems to show that the fact, far from being isolated , became the tip of an iceberg that has been melting and already includes investigations in almost a dozen regions of Chilein which similar practices have been identified with the resources delivered to foundations by the Executive.
“Let’s not put our hands on fire for anyone and cases of these characteristics, we are not exempt from their happening,” he said. Boric when he was consulted a few days ago about the scandal that plagued Revolución Democrática, one of the parties that make up his government coalition.
The government of President Boric carried out an electoral campaign saying that they had come to renew the policy, that they had come, literally,
with a different moral
And the $530,000 that was awarded to the Democracia Viva FoundationThe authorities put the magnifying glass on at least 10 non-profit organizations that received resources to carry out work that was not associated with their specialties, and those links extended to presidential delegates, ministers and government advisers.
The President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, during the installation session of the Constitutional Council in Chile.
“President Boric’s government ran an electoral campaign saying that they came to renew the policy, that they came, literally, with a different morality. Today they are submerged in one of the largest corruption scandals in the history of our country, where a true mechanism was found that consisted of creating new foundations to which millionaire funds were delivered through direct awards”, he points out to TIME Juan Antonio Coloma, deputy from the opposition party Unión Democrática Independiente (UDI).
From the party of the government coalition of the Broad Front, splashed in the Agreements Case, they assure that the scandal has been faced with “proactivity and severity” given the seriousness of the weapons.
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“We have expelled the people directly involved, suspended the political rights of deputy Catalina Pérez and taken measures related to political formation to prevent this type of thing from happening to us again,” deputy Jaime Sáez, from Democratic Revolution.
Measures
After the wave of scandals, Boric’s government announced the creation of a commission to investigate between the State and foundations, and create mechanisms to combat corruption between the political class and private non-profit entities.
The body will be chaired by the director of the NGO Chile Transparente, María Jaraquemada, who, in dialogue with EL TIEMPO, assured that the recent controversies have an impact on both the Government and the parties involved. “It should be noted that political parties have had very low public trust for many years and therefore, what it does is that it does not allow this situation to improve,” said the lawyer.
For Jaraquemada, in Chile the mechanisms for the delivery of resources can be perfected because many times they grant a lot of discretion and little transparency and accountability, which does not allow for greater social control and prevents irregularities.
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Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.
“It is not that in Chile it is necessary to allow the commission of practices or irregularities to be legalized, what there is is that there is indeed an institutional framework or certain practices to make transfers of resources to civil society organizations that can be used by people who want to, deep down, carrying out irregularities or committing some kind of crime,” he said.
Although Chile has been considered one of the countries with the lowest corruption rates in Latin America, along with Uruguay, that perception began to change in 2015 and stagnated in 2017.
The million-dollar state contracts assigned to a close circle of the Executive are not something exclusive to the current Government. One of the investigated agreements was completed during the second term of former President Sebastián Piñera, in whose term the regulation that would be opening the doors to irregular subsidies to private entities was established.
Added to this is the investigation of the Horizonte Ciudadano Foundation, Created by former President Michelle Bachelet in 2018 and who had irregularly received close to $465,000 for a program that sought to prevent violence against children and adolescents in the Biobío region (south).
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“If any suspicion is detected, the regional government should open an administrative investigation and determine whether or not the aid constitutes an irregularity. At the moment, that is not clear,” said the spokeswoman for the Chilean government, Camila Vallejo. Meanwhile, the popularity of President Boric continues to decline and amounts to just 28 percent, according to the Cadem survey. His favorability has fallen consecutively for three weeks with a disapproval rate of 68 percent.
A dark panorama to which is added the criticism of sectors of the opposition that question Boric about his tour to Europe, to participate in the EU-Celcac Summit, at times of maximum tension in the country shaken by the old political practices that his government had promised to eradicate.
ANDREA AGUILAR CORDOBA
FOR THE TIME
SANTIAGO
