Bachelet Faces Corruption Scandals in Chile

Recently, Chile is making headlines due to political scandals brought to light by the federal tax agency involving the illegal funding of politicians’ campaigns. Two parallel cases are being investigated by the agency: one involving president Bachelet’s own son, and one accusing the alleged illegal funding of political campaigns by the company Penta. In a country where the political right has historically been criticized for inheriting the remnants of Pinochet’s military dictatorship and all that it implies, the plague of nepotism and corruption is now surprisingly affecting both ends of the political spectrum. Bachelet, however, has restated her willingness to stay in power despite the scandals, and has focused the conversation on improving the credibility of Chilean politicians.

The Caval case, involving Bachelet’s son and daughter-in-law, is being investigated for suspiciously earning millions from the presidential campaign of 2013, and for distorted real-estate speculation. Bachelet claims to have been unaware of these transactions at the time of her bid for re-election. Nevertheless, the scandal following the Caval case dealt a considerable blow to Bachelet’s overall popularity in Chile, which reached an all-time low of 31%.

It is Chile’s right-wing politicians who have historically been actively engaged in the prosecution of political scandals and corruption. Due to allegations about “irregular” political financing, the Penta case has taken its toll on important entrepreneurs and has left them in “preventive prison” since last March.

The federal tax agency in charge of these prosecutions has placed a complete list of companies under investigation for their suspicious activity with politicians. Included in this list are companies associated with funding previous presidential  campaigns, not to mention the mining company Soquimich that is owned by Augusto Pinochet’s former son-in-law, who allegedly benefitted substantially from his ties with the dictator.

Politicians on both ends of the political spectrum have found supporters criticizing the filtration of these scandals into the media and calling the tax agency’s work invasive. On the other hand, a minority recognizes that the very mechanism that is bringing these political scandals to light is a means to spread public awareness of corruption. Bachelet seems to ascribe to this minority. Despite the Caval case’s direct effect on her own popularity rates, she refused to negotiate with fellow politicians to stop the investigations. “[These investigations] show that the government is not making any effort to cover up anything… There are no first or second-class citizens here,” Bachelet declared. Bachelet hopes to renew her popularity among Chileans with the serene declarations in defense of her leadership, alongside  the recent promulgation of the new civil union law that allows for the recognition of homosexual couples.

While these recent scandals in Chile may just be another indication that political corruption is still rampant in Latin America, Chile has the opportunity to set  an example on how to start dealing with institutional corruption. The presence of an independent institution within the government that openly investigates politicians’ finances and which holds them accountable for illegal actions is certainly a sign of improvement. This, along with Latin Americans throughout the region protesting their governments’ corruption, shows that the region is, step by step, battling one of the most significant obstacles for democratization in Latin America.