Evolving stories on Boric involvement in an attempt to buy former Allende residence for a “Marxist Museum” apparently being charged as fraud against the government.
Translation of a portion The controversy over the frustrated sale of Salvador Allende’s house to the State for $933 million pesos (USD 926,000) to convert it into a museum finally implicated President Gabriel Boric, who must testify after a criminal complaint for tax fraud was filed in court against the president and all those responsible for the failed acquisition.
The matter has been described as an “own goal” by the Government and has already cost the Minister of National Assets, Marcela Sandoval, her job. The Chilean Republican Party announced an investigative commission on the matter and they are working on a request to the Constitutional Court to pronounce on the legality of the purchase contract signed before a notary with the State by a lawyer representing the Minister of Defense, Maya Fernández, and Senator Isabel Allende (PS), granddaughter and daughter, respectively, of the late former Socialist leader.
The accusation is based on Constitution articles that expressly prohibit private transactions with the government by serving government officials, for hopefully obvious reasons.
They tried to whitewash the affair by attempting to purchase a house once owned by President Patricio Aylwin, for the same reason, ie to preserve his “legacy”.
A suggestion was made that rather than selling the property, they could donate it to the nation. But these members of the commie nomenklatura, seemed strangely reluctant to forgo the opportunity to get money out of the state.
Even if it were legal, and given the county’s precarious financial condition, how can spending taxpayers money to buy up property for ideological reasons be justified?
Given the speed of Chilean justice, Boric and Co will be out of office by the time any investigation concludes, and the whole affair will be conveniently forgotten, especially since the Allende family is still one of Chile’s sacred cows.
Theoretically, Boric could be accused of buying a property from a subordinate using state money. I suppose that would be an incompatible negotiation, not a fraud.
In any case, it’s unlikely that anything will come of it in that regard. Boric and his government’s clumsiness was incredible because they tried to make a big deal for the Allende family, without realizing that it was blatantly illegal.
The deal would have been very good for the Allende family because that house has heritage value, so it’s practically impossible to sell it. No one would buy it, especially at that price, knowing that no modifications can be made without permission from the National Monuments Council
For the Aylwin family, it was an excellent deal because they were able to get rid of the properties while receiving a good amount of money, from us the taxpayers, of course.
Thank you for that clarification and the additional details. I had regrettably relied on the phrase in the media reports, “responsables de un posible delito de fraude al fisco…”
Always pleased to see your greater insights into these events.