translated from Spanish: The conflicts surrounding the former Undersecretary of Crime Prevention and could take over as mayor of Lo Barnechea

The arrival of the former mayor of Lo Barnechea, Felipe Guevara (RN), to the Metropolitan Intendency to replace Karla Rubilar, has left open the vacancy for the position of highest authority of the commune of the eastern sector of Santiago.
There are several options that are handled. It will be the councillors who, in exceptional council, finally decide who will be Guevara’s successor. One of the possible names is Cristóbal Lira (UDI), who was elected as a councillor with 15.73% of the vote. Lira is a man close to former Interior Minister Andres Chadwick, making him one of the “protected” in the Mint. But his background keeps him in the eye of the hurricane, due to his link to the irregular businesses of the former commander-in-chief of the Army, Juan Miguel Fuente-Alba.
Ditec – a company in which Lira is actively linked – is a luxury car concessionaire, representative in Chile of Land Rover, Volvo, Jaguar and Porsche, which sold more than a hundred vehicles to the military, acquisitions now being investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
A report by El Mostrador notes that Lira’s public relationship with one of Fuente-Alba’s businesses, between 2010 and 2012, when the advisor was now serving as undersecretary of Crime Prevention in the first piñerist administration, activated a strong “damage control” in La Moneda to shield the trusted man of the former interior minister.
Last May, prosecutor José Morales raided and seized evidence, after a court order, which was granted to him.
In addition, Lira, at least until April (last updated information) maintained his role as “intersectoral public policy coordinator” of the Ministry of the Interior, in an agreement that takes effect until December 31, 2019, with an honorary $2,898,000.
However, in accordance with article 62 of Law 18.695, in the face of the resignation of a mayor, councillors shall vote among themselves – in a special session convened for this purpose – the appointment of the communal chief, who must be elected by a majority Absolute. If an absolute majority is not achieved, the elections would be repeated only with the two best votes.
In the event that neither councillor gets a majority, “the two councillors who would have obtained the most number of citizen preferences in the respective municipal election will be considered mayor.”
That is, in a hypothetical case in which Cristóbal Lira gets one of the two best votes, and the absolute majority is not achieved, Ditec’s partner would become the new municipal authority of Lo Barnechea, having to go to declare on the Ditec ridge.

Original source in Spanish