SANTIAGO – A report on the TV program “Informe Especial” (Special Report), broadcast by Chile’s TVN, has added fuel to the fire about the juicy pensions for disability received by healthy retired military officers.
Among those who retired from the Armed Forces are officers sentenced for crimes against humanity who are serving time in the special prison of Punta Peuco, which has been criticized for offering privileges to the inmates.
The scandal raised comments by the ministers of Defense and Labor, Jose Antonio Gomez and Alejandra Krauss, respectively, who announced the creation of a group to analyze possible changes in the pension system.
During the interviews and investigations, the reporter from Informe Especial learned that all former military officers, including the son of the late dictator Augusto Pinochet, were healthy.
However, they receive monthly pensions of more than 9 million pesos (about 1,500 dollars) under the alleged justification that they were discharged from the military corps due to serious diseases.
“We will not protect anyone,” both Gomez and Krauss said.
Informe Especial reported that the Bank of Prevision of the National Defense and the Directorate of Prevision of the Carabineers pay large sums of money to retired officers who are healthy and are even working.
Chileans receive an average pension of 240 dollars, an issue that gave birth to a social movement called NO-AFP, in clear opposition to the companies that insure the retirement funds in the country, which are all private firms.
The group of Relatives of Missing Detainees (AFDD) charged that ‘the lack of ethics prevails in the Armed Forces, the soldiers’ silence is bought with pensions for disability.’
