Gonzalo Migueles, former partner of former Supreme Court Justice Ángela Vivanco, told prosecutors that he had told her he would receive money if the Belarusian consortium Belaz-Movitec (CBM) did well before the country's highest court. According to his account, he told her in September 2023, days before Vivanco voted in favor of the company without recusing herself.
BioBioChile reported this based on an investigation by CIPER (Center for Investigative Journalism). Migueles gave his testimony to the Public Prosecutor's Office on September 3. This account contradicts both his own earlier account and that of the former judge.
"It was at that moment, and not before, that she learned of the payments I would receive for this case," Migueles testified. According to his account, lawyer Eduardo Lagos would pay him if he secured favorable results for CBM, which was involved in litigation with Codelco.
The consortium filed the appeal on September 21, 2023. Seven days later, the Supreme Court's Third Chamber granted it, with Vivanco voting in favor. The ruling required Codelco to pay around $4,400 million.
In April, Migueles had told prosecutors the opposite: "She never knew about the money." In August, Vivanco testified that neither Lagos nor lawyers Mario Vargas and Gabriel Silber had discussed the case with her. She added: "Neither did Migueles."
In his new testimony, Migueles says he acted as an intermediary between Lagos and the then-judge. He maintains that she recommended legal arguments, reviewed a draft of the appeal and told him she would do what she could to have the case heard quickly.
Migueles acknowledged five payments totaling US$95 thousand. Four came after September 2023. The first, he said, took place on July 3 of that year: Lagos handed him an envelope containing US$15 thousand in cash and told him of a favorable outcome that became known the following day. He said he did not know how Lagos had learned of it beforehand.
He denied giving Vivanco money but acknowledged that some of those funds were used for expenses in their shared life, such as rent on their house and a trip to Buenos Aires. He also maintained that Silber and Vargas did not know about the financial arrangements with Lagos.
According to the cited report, prosecutors considered the testimony cooperation with the investigation. This allowed Migueles to leave pretrial detention on September 30. Pretrial detention is a precautionary measure: the accused remains in jail while the investigation proceeds, without having been convicted.
The case remains under investigation, and none of the accused has been convicted. The sources do not provide the case number (RIT or RUC). It is up to prosecutors to corroborate Migueles's account and determine whether it entails criminal liability for Vivanco.
According to the website Desenfoque, Vivanco declined to comment because she had not yet reviewed the full testimony. The former justice remains under full house arrest, is barred from leaving the country and is prohibited from communicating with the other defendants in the case.
