When Jospin’s government used to have deals with General Pinochet’s friend (PART 5)

During the end of the 2006, the Chilean submarines “le Carrera” left the Spanish boatyard in Cartagena towards Talcahuano in Chile. The construction of this boat was the result of a very successful cooperation between the French from the DCN and the Spanish from the Navantia group. The submarines finally arrived after an 8500 miles journey. It was the second of its kind to be delivered to the Chileans.

It was in spring of 1997 that this contract between French, Spanish and Chileans was signed. In France, the unfortunate dissolution of the National Assembly by Chirac gave the control of the government to Lionel Jospin and the socialists. In Chile, the friendly General Pinochet who had organized the bloody military coup d’état against Allende, wasn’t ruling anymore but was still the chief of the army. His influence as we will discover was still significant.

TWO CONSULTANTS CALLED TO THE RESCUE

The two submarines delivered to Chile had never been experimented elsewhere. In these conditions, the contract was especially hard to get for the French and the Spanish. They called upon two consultants named Pedro Felix de Aguirre and Francesco Muzard. Both for their presumed efficiency, received gifts as we can see in the two contracts Bakchich was able to get (see below)

The first “Consulting” contract was signed on April 8th 1997 between a little-known entrepreneur, Pedro Felix de Aguirre and the vice-president of the DCNI, Emmanuel Aris. The first one received 2% of the total amount of the sales of the submarines for his good and loyal services.

The second contract was signed on June 13th 1997 between the vice-president of the DCNI and a certain Francisco Muzard who received 500 000 dollars. A couple days before, Lionel Jospin was nominated as Prime minister by Jacques Chirac.

Bakchich wanted to know more about these two intermediaries. The first one Francisco Muzard is the son of a historical Gaullist and is today still one of the bosses of UMP in Latin America. More interesting is Pedro Felix de Aguirre’s career. He was a secretive man who was until Pinochet’s arrest in London, one of his biggest followers. Poor Aguirre has now disappeared, his son, a lawyer now takes care of most of his cases.

WINE, WEAPONS AND COMMISSIONS FOR PINOCHET’S FAVORITE FINANCIER

Pedro Felix de Aguirre Lamas’ face is unknown by most Chileans and he doesn’t appear in Google’s file or any other database. In the ‘80s, Pedro Felix’s friend appears in several companies in which Pinochet’s family has a part in. We also find some important officers of the “Fuerza Aerea” (Chilean Airforce). During the dictatorship, De Aguirre became wealthy with vine and weapons as a journalist from El Pais, Ernesto Ekaiser described in his book “Me Augusto”. Pedro Felix de Aguirre was especially close to Lucia Pinochet, Augusto’s elder sister, as well as his wife “Dona Lucia”. Nothing apparently to disturb our officers at the DCN who took contact with him.

He was the one who carried out discreet investigations for Pinochet on the degree of advancement of the Spanish judge’s investigation on the General. He tried to convince Pinochet that he had to discuss with the Spanish magistrate Garcia Castellon, a conservative who was willing to close the case, which the former dictator didn’t do.

Two Chilean judges Sergio Munoz and Juan Guzman were for a moment interested in the secrets that this entrepreneur and friend of the family knew about Pinochet’s fortune. But those two should have been more interested in the DCNI’s secret.

Pedro Feliz de Aguirre left some bad memories to his partners in France. We saw him having a fit against executives of the Canadian imperial bank of commerce (CIBC), who worked for the DCNI, calling the head office in Toronto, raving and informing on the delays in payments. A “rude person” explains a high ranked in the Ministry of Defense.

AFTER BUSINESS, BUSINESS CONTINUES

Since this Chilean contract, other submarines of the same model were sold by the French and the Spanish ; six to Malaysia and two to India. Yet, the Chilean middlemen who supported the sale of the first submarines are interested in the following sales as stated in a confidential document from the DCNI dated from December 17th 1997 and sent to the Chilean captain Alejandro Herrman Hartung. It is specified in that document that for every ship sold to another country, the Chileans would receive six million Francs. Enough to make ends meet at the end of the month, nothing more. As we will see in our next article, the blessed times of big contracts and commissions are over.

To read the first 4 episodes of our investigation :

When Chirac and Balladur fight over the slush funds (PART 4)

Bakchich tells the backstage story about the frigate sales, submarines, torpedo boats and other military boats : many juicy markets signed by our politicians and industrialists. The fight that tore the right-wing apart for the 1995 presidential (…)

Jean-Marie Boivin, the Alfred Sirven of weaponry (PART 3)

As Bakchich revealed it in the previous article, indictments are starting to fall in the DCN case, notably on Wednesday June 25 against a former employee of the DST who was in charge of carrying out discreet missions for our brave weapon (…)

DCN and Thales’ Weapons Sale, From huge contracts of the ’90s to little arrangements between friends (PART 2)

“Bakchich” was able to get their hands on confidential documents on the DCN upon which the justice didn’t really decide to investigate (but just charged people on secondary intelligence), and dissected the networks that allowed big commissions in (…)

Weapons Sale, DCN, Thales, Slush fund : “Bakchich’s” Exposure (PART 1)

During the two years of preliminary investigations, police found the slush funds of the biggest French weapon market of the last couple years at the Direction of Naval Construction (DCN). The justice committed this case to two magistrates of the (…)

Translated by Jacky Chen