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COMMUNITY AND CORRUPTION
It is not easy to attribute a certain virtue to a community; much less do it with respect to a vice: there is more tolerance for accepting a positive assessment than a negative one. But that happens in principle, since such valuations tend to vary constantly, according to the interests that lie behind them. In any case, when is it possible to say that a community is corrupt? When is it possible to say that it cannot be trusted? When half of its population is? Or when the majority is? What, then, is that majority? And, what happens if that society, like all others, has social classes, one of which prevails over the other? What happens if the dominant sectors of that community impose a representative form of government, and it is those representatives who appear to carry out practices that are corrupt? What happens if this way of proceeding is adopted by both ‘right-wing’ parties and those that claim to represent the dominated sectors?
For an analyst, who takes Zygmunt Bauman’s book ‘Liquid Modernity’ as a source of his opinion,
“[…] societies characterized […] by […] “Weakened, volatile and ephemeral social relations, trust in institutions fades, immediately facilitating the acceptance of corrupt behavior by the useless officials on duty.”[1].
Social relations, however, are weakened for several reasons; corruption, among others. And corruption is not a crime. It is an attack on morality. An attack on ethics, against which
“[…] It is imperatively necessary to ask ourselves if we are facing a new moral crisis of the republic.. Everything seems to indicate yes”[2].
LATIN AMERICA DOES NOT SHINE FOR ITS TRANSPARENCY
In the report prepared earlier this year, and titled ‘Corruption Perception Index 2023’, after studying 180 countries and territories, the organization ‘Transparency International’ concludes that, in America, the data on corruption remain negative.
“Only two countries in the region improved their score (Guyana, with 40 points and the Dominican Republic, with 35). Everyone else descended. In some cases, the drop was significant, as in the case of Saint Lucia, with 16 fewer positions; Guatemala, with 9 points less; Argentina, Honduras and El Salvador, with 8 fewer places. The drop in points even affected countries well placed in the index, such as Canada and Chile, which fell 7 points in the classification.”[3].
IS CHILE A CORRUPT COUNTRY?
In Chile, as in most nations, corruption has been present throughout its history. It has been an inherent part of Creole politics; However, it had never reached the levels it has today. But—it is fair to say—its extreme virulence was acquired under the Pinochet dictatorship, spreading strongly in the post-dictatorial governments.[4].
According to one analyst,
“It is a paradox of democratic societies that, at a certain critical moment, they begin to destroy trust (a public value) faster than society and its political sphere can create it. This is precisely what is happening in Chile, as we have seen here.”[5].
Societies reproduce. And they do it by repeating themselves, repeating their own practices. Or, what is the same, creating custom. Returning to themselves. And, consequently, creating culture. It should not be surprising that, once the dictatorship ended, many of these behaviors began to be adopted by politicians who had promised the national community ‘the joy that is coming.’ And the fact is that whoever exercises material power in a society also exercises its spiritual power. Which, in more direct words, means that the culture of the dominant classes becomes the culture of the dominated classes. If the former is corrupt, it should not draw attention that this one is also corrupt.[6].
DENYING A PRACTICE THAT IS USUAL
Chile is a hypocritical nation. Its inhabitants seem surprised to hear such facts. We are not corrupt, they say, although they recognize that some are, but not all.[7]… Something obvious, because the equation has been reversed: the majority is corrupt. And yet, stubbornly, some persist in explaining it by resorting to the old equation, as do figures linked to the ‘political elite’, one of whom, referring to the repercussions of the so-called ‘Hermosilla case’, warned that it would be of a fact
“[…] disastrous, complex, relevant, but it does not involve the entire political system, the business system and the administrative system.”
“It seems to me that we have to be very delicate, along with condemning it, reproaching it absolutely and totally, not normalizing it or extending it to many judicial or political actors”[8].
However, that calmness—bordering on candidness—that comes from the words of that character does not seem to be shared by other analysts:
“In the last 20 years, practically no Chilean military and police institution has been free of corruption. “Its senior officials have embezzled public funds, defrauded the treasury, falsified public instruments and leaked privileged information, among other crimes.”[9].
And what can we say about the other cases, such as Penta, what has been called ‘Mega tax fraud’, the foundations, in short[10]? What can we say about the business done in Parliament itself by some of its members? What can we say about a president of the Republic who, with the help of his ministers and advisors, was able to increase his business from the State? What can we say about the scandals in the Municipalities, which range from sexual assaults to the looting of the funds that all citizens contribute for the operation of these institutions? The Municipalities, let us remember, are 345; Of them, 203 have complaints filed against them, waiting to be heard by the courts, and, of these, 125 have already been admitted to trial. All of them are related to corruption.
CHILE AS A CORRUPT COUNTRY
Chile is a corrupt country, we maintain. And their system of government is kleptocracy. Their organizations, institutions and services are corrupt, as provided by the laws that govern them, dictated, all in strict harmony with an exclusive and exclusive way of accumulating, imposed by force on a defenseless society. They are the agents who administer and direct them, as well as those who have proceeded to appoint these agents. Both are characters who act consciously and deliberately in carrying out the work they do; most of them do it shamelessly.
In a clumsy questioning of the statements made by the Secretary General of the Government Camila Vallejo – according to which there was a network of corruption at the state level – the national prosecutor, Mr. Ángel Valencia, demanded that she inform him about this possible network of corruption. corruption[11]. Commenting on this singular paradox, Patricio Herman pointed out the following:
“[…] We inform the distinguished national prosecutor that, in different media and before the Ministry of Defense itself, we have formally denounced the network that tolerates corruption and influence peddling in the area of public properties that the different branches of the Armed Forces sell. in the real estate market, a matter that, among others, was published in 2021 in the Financial Diaryver link
https://www.df.cl/aniversario/df-terreno/el-negocio-inmobiliario-de-las-ffaa-bajo-la-lupa[12]
We maintain that, once the political system was organized, as established by its mentor, Jaime Guzmán, with political parties acting on behalf of the great national majorities, it has been those parties, under the protection of dictatorial laws, who have appointed such subjects and created those instances that today dominate over the entire society[13]. They are characters that come together, they never divide, because
“We must suck together at the udders of the State, and then no one protests”[14].
This statement is so true that, analyzing the reasons why mandatory voting was reinstated, an analyst recently pointed out:
“Citizens show little identification with political parties, low interest in politics – key to the common good – and low electoral participation.” […][15]
Thus, led by leaders with abundant academic training and meager social theory, mercantilism was able to penetrate the essence of the parties and strengthen, in this way, the Pinochet legacy, ensuring the separation of society into classes, and destroying in those dominated every dream of building a better society. It was tremendously productive work. As one columnist points out,
“[…] one of the greatest triumphs of the dictatorship [fue] the disarticulation of the political community and its inherent depoliticization as a result of a State that ignores its main social responsibilities, such as education-health-welfare. […]”[16]
Could it be assumed that, to carry out such a project, a thinking and critical society was unnecessary? Wasn’t the exclusion of the subjects of civic education, history and philosophy in schools perhaps implicit in that idea? Let’s say it, without further reservations, wasn’t the establishment of an uncritical society intended, which served only to deliver a certain labor force to those who needed it, a community of non-thinking beings, a society of poultry ( chickens) whose only social function had to be to choose as their leaders the foxes in charge of devouring them?
FACING AN ELECTIONARY APOTEOSIS
Thus, in the months ahead, we are not on track to face tasks that are related to the well-being of the great national majorities. No. We are heading straight towards an electoral apotheosis whose purpose is the complete reproduction of the society we have. Because facing the guidelines of a program is no longer possible; It is not even difficult to face the remnants of what the current Government presented. We only have elections and more elections ahead of us. And an encounter with enormous subjects, masters of political ‘transvestite’, fabulous characters, excessive, excessive, shameless individuals, who will invite us, again and again, to vote for them.
Perhaps, some of our acquaintances will do so by following the inevitable route of the lesser evil option. They will tell us that it is necessary to vote because not everyone is ‘bad’. That, if some are, not all should be considered that way. But they will not tell us why, if these people—who are not ‘bad’—seek to be elected and accept the conditions imposed by the list within which they have found refuge. And that nonsense will be repeated to us ad nauseam, even by some of those who march alongside us in the unwavering search for a better society.
Vote. Vote. Because the vote is an investment. And you have to take care of your investments; not risk them but make them grow. In grace. Before God and men. Because it is our ‘capital’ and, as such, as a value that is valued, it must increase again and again. Of course: it is about the unrestricted application of the laws of the market, pure mercantilism, the essence of neoliberalism. But that is the culture that has been instilled in us. Because our mission must be to reproduce today’s society, with its vices and virtues.
For this reason, calling the community today to make transformations seems sterile; even more so if it is the Government that takes the initiative. The opportunity for this had already slipped out of his hands. For the rest, he never had that intention. In the first half of March just past, an analyst said:
“This March 11 marks the beginning of the third year of the Boric Government and coexistence with social movements is going through tense moments, which we seek to defuse. “Some think that pressure from social actors on the street could get opposition votes in Congress to approve the reforms.”[17].
A DIFFERENT OPTION
The difficult moment that Chile is experiencing will not be overcome by the dominant sectors; nor by existing political organizations. No matter how much they join together. Maybe, for a new one; it’s possible. As, also, by a different social force. Like the one that often struggles to go out and be present at demonstrations or protests. But that force must be preceded by a will to change, a will that must become manifest at the right time. Maybe, by voting. Going to vote to annul the vote, setting preferences for all the candidates, voting for all of them and, consequently, making that vote a useless absurdity: a way of protesting against the confessed ‘animus’ of those who push us to go to the polls. .
Is it foolish to do so when you do not trust political institutions or their agents? When there is no trust in the way elections are carried out, in the body that oversees the process, in the parties or in the candidates proposed by the parties?
Is it foolish to demand direct democracy, the possibility of electing whoever one wants, to restore the obligation of every citizen to hold public office for short periods and with remunerations that do not exceed the average paid to workers today? And yet, these are some of the modifications that we would like to find in some reform of the Chilean political system so as not to continue reproducing the exploitative society that we have inherited from the dictatorship.
By Manuel Acuña Asenjo
Santiago, April 2024
[1] Prieto Femenía, Lisandro: “Trying to understand the nature of corruption”, ‘El Ciudadano’, March 10, 2024.
[2] Olguín Olate, Jorge: “2024, Moral crisis of the republic?”, ‘El Desconcimiento’, March 30, 2024.
[3] Santano, Ana Claudia: “Corruption, democracy and the taboo of talking about it”, ‘El Mostrador’, March 19, 2024.
[4] Never, in Chile, has the assets of a ruler’s spouse been so swelled by the incorporation (free of charge, by the way) of fiscal assets, including the parade ground of a city! as happened with Lucía Hiriart; Nor had certain social sectors profited in this way by selling stolen or stolen babies abroad to Chilean families suffering from serious economic difficulties.
[5] Brunner, José Joaquín: “Distrust in institutions”, ‘El Libero’, March 20, 2024.
[6] Just last March 30, a truck with a trailer, which was transporting avocados, turned over on Route 5 North, in front of the town of Caleta Los Hornos in La Higuera, killing its driver, a young father of barely 30 years old. Few approached the place to try to help him. The majority of those who did it dedicated themselves to collecting the avocados not to return them but to take them with them. The young man’s death apparently had little significance for them.
[7] In the years immediately after the end of the dictatorship, for many of us who traveled from exile to see the new Chile, we were struck by the use of a code that seemed to be fashionable: ‘Cvy?’. Very soon we received the answer: ‘Cvy?”, it was equivalent to saying ‘How am I doing?’ It was a direct allusion to the percentage of money to be paid for a certain task that was requested. Everything was paid for, everything was subject to transaction. It should not be surprising that many of us were offered to buy the import quota for a vehicle (as a ‘returned’) with the condition of giving the manager part of the ‘profit’. In a brutal way we began to get to know the new Chile that we had inherited from the dictatorship.
[8] Editorial: “Raúl Leiva (PS) due to leaks: ‘It does not involve the entire political, business and administrative system’”, RUCH, March 27, 2024. In bold in the original.
[9] Peña Pinilla, Silvia: “Something is wrong: eight senior military and police officers face charges of corruption”, ‘El Mostrador’, March 18, 2024
[10] According to the article by Claudio Pizarro “Tax Mega Fraud: The evidence that links the ‘Canessa Clan’ to factoring linked to Longueira”, published by ‘El Desconcierto’ on March 4, 2024, the aforementioned fraud would reach the sum of 336 thousand millions of pesos.
[11] The National Prosecutor seems to forget that his own nomination in that capacity was the product of that network of contacts that operates within the State.
[12] Herman, Patricio: “We assure the Prosecutor that there is a network of corruption”, ‘El Clarín’, March 25, 2024.
[13] Do we need to remember that all of them were organized under the strict rules of the social market economy, with ‘political marketing’ companies that carried out electoral propaganda, with boards of directors that made investments of all kinds, with presidents and directors whose remunerations were (and Are they regulated by SERVEL, anyway?
[14] Garib, Walter: “Associated leeches”, ‘El Clarín’, March 25, 2024.
[15] González, Roberto: “Social cohesion in crisis”, ‘El Mostrador’, March 29, 2024.
[16] Martínez González, Matías: “The dictatorship triumphed”, ‘El Mostrador’, March 30, 2024.
[17] Saldivia, Carlos: “The difficult coexistence of the Government with social movements”, ‘El Mostrador’, March 11, 2024.