The anonymous millions of dollars spent in Chilean campaign donations
The anonymous millions of dollars spent in Chilean campaign donations
Friday, November 15th 2013 - 16:27 UTC
It will come as no surprise to Chileans that some of the country’s biggest companies — and richest families — have donated millions of dollars to presidential and parliamentary campaigns this election season. However, until an investigative report was published last week, people were only able to speculate on the matter, as a law passed in 2003 allows donors and donations to remain completely anonymous.
The Center for Journalistic Investigation (CIPER) revealed the extravagantly wealthy Matte, Luksic, Del Rio, Cuneo-Solari, Angelini and Yarur families are among those who have forked out hefty donations to candidates of their choice, while energy giants Endesa Chile, Enersis and Colbún have splashed the pot with a combined 3.9 million dollars.
Both Endesa Chile and parent company Enersis’ donated 1 million and 2.5 million respectively, while the campaigns to which the companies donated was not disclosed. According to campaign financing regulations, one company cannot exceed a donation of 135.000 dollars to a particular party, though a conglomerate can divide larger donations up among its subsidiaries.
“Our electoral financing law lacks several things,” Daniela Tejada of Ciudadano Inteligente, an organization promoting transparency, told The Santiago Times. “The current spending limits are excessive, the public has no way of knowing who is financing the campaigns and the candidates aren’t supposed to know either — although this is something that we don’t know is definitely true. This can cause conflicts of interests when they are elected.”
The CIPER report shows that Chilean energy company Colbún donated a total of 412,800 dollars to undisclosed campaigns via its subsidiaries Colbún Transmisión S.A. and Río Tranquilo S.A. The energy company — majority owned by the powerful Matte family — is partnered with Endesa in the highly controversial multi-billion dollar Hidro-Aysén mega-dam project that has had a torrid time reaching approval from courts and environmental regulators and is a taboo topic among candidates this election.
More:
http://en.mercopress.com/2013/11/15/the-anonymous-millions-of-dollars-spent-in-chilean-campaign-donations