There is a reason, they say, for magical realism being created in South America — reality here can be more tantalizing than fiction. Last night, the Chilean lower house’s vote on the impeachment of right-wing President Sebastián Piñera was undoubtedly one of these moments when real-life politics beats any television script. When lawmakers were not fiddling with Covid controls at the entrance to Congress, they were engaging in 15-hour “reverse filibusters,” all to approve articles of impeachment against Mr. Piñera, who only has months remaining in his presidential term.
House of Cards screenwriter Beau Willimon couldn’t have done better if he tried.
Chile’s lower house passed articles of impeachment against Mr. Piñera by a razor-thin 78-67 margin with three abstentions, and now the Senate will hold a trial against the sitting president, who is accused of crossing ethical lines when his family sold a mining project in 2019.
The case in question was revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ (ICIJ) “Pandora Papers” leak in October, which published a trove of private financial records showing accounts in tax havens held by powerful people — including other Latin American presidents, Brazil’s Economy Minister, and Central Bank chairman.
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