Corruption in Chile - Corruption in Chile

Corruption in Chile

In December 2005 the mayor of Quillota, Luis Mella (Christian Democrat), alleged the government's Employment Generation Program (PGE) paid political allies for work that was not performed. The Public Ministry and the comptroller then initiated parallel investigations into the potential illicit use of public funds. Although earmarked for employment programs, these resources were possibly diverted to the political campaigns of Socialist Party and Party for Democracy candidates in the Fifth Region during the 2005 congressional elections. The PGE investigations revealed that individuals paid to do public works actually spent their time campaigning for political parties.

Further investigations revealed that funds were also misused in other Fifth Region counties. Many midlevel public officials in the regional government, such as the former regional ministerial secretary of labor, were formally investigated, and several local officials were removed.

The government took remedial steps to control public employment programs, dismantling the PGE and designating three government agencies to manage recruitment of public works employers and workers and payment of wages.

In October a government audit revealed financial irregularities in Chiledeportes, a national program to promote amateur and professional sport activities. Opposition political figures charged that the funds had been diverted into the national political campaigns of ruling party figures, while the organization's director characterized the issue as "common crime."

The government removed all 13 Chiledeportes regional directors and initiated a broad-based investigation to determine the extent and nature of potential fraud or mismanagement. Congress created an investigative committee in February, and prosecutors brought charges of tax evasion and falsification of documents against some individuals. Executive, congressional, and judicial investigations were ongoing at year's end.

The Freedom of Information Act requires the government and its agencies to make all unclassified information about their activities available to the public. All government ministries and most public agencies have Web pages. In 2005 the NGO Participa released the results of a far-ranging survey, which found that national and local government agencies failed to respond to 69 percent of requests for information and provided incomplete or otherwise deficient responses to 14 percent of requests.