The Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) issued an opinion on February 28 in which they prove that the former mayor of Lo Barnechea, Felipe Guevara, used municipal resources in his 2016 campaign for the communal leadership.
The controlling body issued the document in response to an appeal filed by the current CORE of Santiago, Carlos Ward, in 2016. At the time, Ward was also running for mayor of Lo Barnechea.
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According to Radio Bío Bío, the Comptroller’s office text states that “it observed the use of audiovisual and photographic material financed with municipal resources in the campaign for mayor of Mr. Felipe Guevara Stephen.”
The CGR also points out that Guevara, “in his capacity as mayor of the municipality of Lo Barnechea, has not adopted measures in order to prevent diptychs from being distributed in his political campaign, which includes, through the incorporation of QR, photographs, videos, posters and others, produced with municipal resources.”
In addition, they question the exedil for not having carried out a “permanent hierarchical control of the functioning of the mayor’s office.”
From the body indicated that the “observance of the limitations on advertising in election periods, specifically to the Integral Program of External Communication, since, during the year 2016, in the development of said program a series of graphic and audiovisual materials was generated reiterating the image of the mayor, material that is later used and reproduced on page www.guevara2016.cl.”
Website domain
Guevara sent his arguments to the Comptroller’s Office, noting that “there would be no lack of hierarchical control because as mayor he did not know or could not know the anti-legal facts of which the present investigation is about.”
He also pointed out that “the official site of his campaign was www.felipeguevara.cl and not www.guevara2016.cl, whose administrator was someone else.” Thus questioning the second charge that the Comptroller’s Office formulated against him.”
However, the CGR found that “the domain indicated with the name of www.guevara2016.cl was registered since June 2016 in the name of Mr. Sebastián Torrealba Alvarado and the site www.felipeguevara.cl in the name of Mr. Luis Felipe Guevara.”
Former deputy Sebastián Torrealba (RN) served in 2016 as chief of staff to the former mayor.
“Mr. Guevara Stephens, at least, should have knowledge of what was done by his chief of staff and the activities he carried out in the period of his own campaign, using images and videos made with municipal resources, a situation that was ordered by Mr. Torrealba,” says the Comptroller’s Office document.
“It is possible to establish responsibilities of Mr. Guevara Stephens in the improper use that was given to municipal assets and resources in his electoral campaign,” he adds.
