The Chilean opposition began impeachment proceedings against President Sebastián Piñera on October 13 because of possible irregularities in the sale of a mining project, which were revealed in an investigation by the Pandora Papers. This was reported by Chile Today newspaper.
The president’s family sold the Dominga mining project to a close friend of Piñera. Part of the payment contained a clause stating that the area surrounding the project would not be declared a protected zone. The previous government had left this clause in place, but Piñera’s administration rescinded them, the newspaper noted.

Socialist Party MP Jaime Naranjo said the opposition accuses Piñera of openly violating the constitution, principles of honesty and a serious attack on the honor of the nation.

The lower house of parliament has formed a commission of three members of the opposition and two members of the ruling coalition. They will analyze the charges against the Chilean leader. Piñera will be given 10 days to respond, after which the lower house will vote to refer the charges to the Senate, where the ruling Chile Vamos coalition holds 15 of 43 seats. This balance of power makes Pinera’s impeachment unlikely, Chile Today writes.

The Chilean prosecutor’s office announced an investigation into Piñera over allegations of tax violations and bribery in the sale of the Dominga mining project, the Associated Press added. The Pandora Papers investigation indicates that the Chilean president used offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands to make deals on the project.

Context:

An international consortium of journalists published the Pandora Papers investigation on Oct. 3. It involved 600 journalists from more than 150 media outlets in 117 countries. The journalists examined the archives of 14 offshore registrars.