SANTIAGO, Dec 20 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Chilean President Sebastian Piñera was slapped with a US$ 3,500 fine after posing for a selfie on the beach with a bystander without wearing a mask as required during the coronavirus pandemic, health authorities said.
Chile has strict rules on mask wearing in all public places and violations are punishable with sanctions that include fines and even jail terms. Piñera apologized then turned himself in shortly after the selfie surfaced on social media in early December.
The president explained he had been walking alone along the beach near his home in the posh Chilean seaside town of Cachagua when a woman recognized him and asked for a photo together.
The selfie shows the president and the woman standing very near to one another on a sunny day, neither wearing masks.
The gaffe-prone Piñera was previously photographed at a pizza party on the night protests over inequality broke out in Santiago last year. He was later seen posing for pictures at the square that had been the hub of the demonstrations after the pandemic forced protesters to stay at home.
The virus peaked in Chile in May and June, during the southern hemisphere winter, then subsided through November. Cases are on the rise again, however, prompting new restrictions and quarantines.
Chile has reported 581,135 cases of the virus since the outbreak began in March, and 16,051 deaths from the disease.
Meanwhile, Santiago de Chile was again the scene of protests to demand the resignation of Piñera, which ended with the arrest of at least 30 protesters.
The militarized police reported that they had arrested that number of participants in the demonstrations, whose objective was also to demand the freedom of people who were imprisoned during the protests that broke out in October 2019.
“Public Order Control police personnel detained 30 individuals in the context of serious disorders that occurred in the Alameda (downtown Santiago),” explained the police.
For weeks, Chileans have demanded the resignation of Piñera and the release of political prisoners who have been accused of public disorder since the social outbreak began in October 2019. One of the results has been the process initiated towards the creation of a new Constitution.
A national campaign called “We want them free” is being promoted by the Association of Family Members and Friends of Political Prisoners Guacolda, Group of Relatives of Political Prisoners Santiago 1, Initiative Group for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, among other union organizations.
On Monday, the Chilean President rejected a bill to pardon the “prisoners of the outbreak” and assured that he will veto it.
