Chile's Pinera faces impeachment bid after Pandora Papers leak - Reuters
Chilean opposition lawmakers launched impeachment proceedings against President Sebastian Pinera on Wednesday over possible irregularities in the sale of a mining company, after new details emerged about the deal in the Pandora Papers leak, as Reuters reported.
The move comes after Chile's public prosecutor said this month it would open an investigation into possible bribery-related corruption charges as well as tax violations related to the sale. read more
The Pandora Papers are a cache of leaked documents that The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists says reveal offshore transactions involving global political and business figures.
Among them are documents that appear to outline a deal involving the 2010 sale of the Dominga mine, a sprawling copper and iron project in Chile. At the time, Pinera, a billionaire businessman, was in his first year of his first term in office.
Leftist lower house lawmaker Jaime Naranjo, one of the drivers of the impeachment proceeding, said Pinera had "openly infringed the Constitution... seriously compromising the honor of the nation".
Pinera has rejected the accusations and argued that all the details of the contract were in the file already reviewed and that no irregularities were found.
The controversy comes ahead of presidential and legislative elections in November, with leftist parties appearing to be in the driving seat. Pinera is not a candidate in those elections.
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