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Piñeragate
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Piñeragate
Piñeragate, also known as Kiotazo, was a political scandal in Chile that unfolded on August 23, 1992. It centered on the broadcast of a secretly recorded telephone conversation aired live on Megavisión, a private television channel. The recording featured Sebastián Piñera—then a senator and prospective candidate in the 1993 presidential election—conspiring against his political rival, deputy Evelyn Matthei.
Both Piñera and Matthei were prominent members of the right-wing National Renewal (RN) party and were competing for the presidential nomination of the Union for Progress coalition. The recording was played on the political program A eso de..., hosted by businessman and Megavisión president Ricardo Claro, who broadcast it using a Kioto-brand cassette player—giving the episode its alternative name, Kiotazo. In the recording, Piñera was heard asking his associate Pedro Pablo Díaz to influence the program's moderators in order to discredit Matthei and impede her political advancement.
The scandal forced both candidates out of contention for the nomination. On November 7, 1992, Matthei publicly acknowledged that she had leaked the recording, and she subsequently withdrew from the presidential race before resigning from National Renewal several months later. The party ultimately chose an alternative candidate for the 1993 election.
Despite the controversy, Piñera went on to serve as President of Chile for two non-consecutive terms (2010–2014 and 2018–2022). Matthei remained active in the National Congress, ran as the coalition's presidential candidate in 2013 and 2025, and served as a cabinet minister during Piñera's first administration.
By 1992, both Sebastián Piñera and Evelyn Matthei were rising stars within National Renewal and were competing to secure the party's nomination for the 1993 presidential election. Both were considered unconventional figures within the party: neither had a long history of internal party service, and each had reached prominence relatively quickly. Their rivalry became increasingly sharp as the primary contest intensified.
Piñera was a senator with significant business interests and national name recognition. Matthei was a deputy and the daughter of a prominent military figure. Their competition for the support of the right-wing Union for Progress coalition created internal tensions within National Renewal.
On August 23, 1992, the political television program A eso de..., broadcast live on the private channel Megavisión, became the setting for a dramatic political confrontation. Ricardo Claro, the businessman who presided over the channel and hosted the program, announced that he had received a recorded tape earlier that day from a man he did not know. Claro played the recording on-air using a Kioto-brand cassette player—a detail that gave the episode its popular nickname, Kiotazo.
I have received some quite serious information that the independence of this program may be threatened. You know that I receive a lot of information, which comes in the most incredible ways, without me even asking for it. Today, after lunch, I received a man I didn't know. He told me, "You pride yourself on being very independent, but there are people at your channel who are intervening," and he handed me a recorded tape of an apparently telephonic conversation between Jorge Andrés Richards' friend, Pedro Pablo Díaz, and Senator Sebastián Piñera. On that tape, the voice that appears to be Sebastián Piñera's tells Pedro Pablo Díaz, "You have to talk to Jorge Andrés Richards so that Evelyn Matthei is treated in a certain way, asked about divorce, what her position is on divorce, put her in evidence that she changes her opinion just like her father." Pedro Pablo Díaz, who is a Coca-Cola executive that I know, replies, "Look, I'll talk to the 'pelao' (Jorge Andrés Richards)." I brought the recording here. I apologize to the audience because the recording is not the best. This device is very bad, but also because there are a series of words that are not salon-appropriate. Nonetheless, I think it's interesting to know this...
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Piñeragate
Piñeragate, also known as Kiotazo, was a political scandal in Chile that unfolded on August 23, 1992. It centered on the broadcast of a secretly recorded telephone conversation aired live on Megavisión, a private television channel. The recording featured Sebastián Piñera—then a senator and prospective candidate in the 1993 presidential election—conspiring against his political rival, deputy Evelyn Matthei.
Both Piñera and Matthei were prominent members of the right-wing National Renewal (RN) party and were competing for the presidential nomination of the Union for Progress coalition. The recording was played on the political program A eso de..., hosted by businessman and Megavisión president Ricardo Claro, who broadcast it using a Kioto-brand cassette player—giving the episode its alternative name, Kiotazo. In the recording, Piñera was heard asking his associate Pedro Pablo Díaz to influence the program's moderators in order to discredit Matthei and impede her political advancement.
The scandal forced both candidates out of contention for the nomination. On November 7, 1992, Matthei publicly acknowledged that she had leaked the recording, and she subsequently withdrew from the presidential race before resigning from National Renewal several months later. The party ultimately chose an alternative candidate for the 1993 election.
Despite the controversy, Piñera went on to serve as President of Chile for two non-consecutive terms (2010–2014 and 2018–2022). Matthei remained active in the National Congress, ran as the coalition's presidential candidate in 2013 and 2025, and served as a cabinet minister during Piñera's first administration.
By 1992, both Sebastián Piñera and Evelyn Matthei were rising stars within National Renewal and were competing to secure the party's nomination for the 1993 presidential election. Both were considered unconventional figures within the party: neither had a long history of internal party service, and each had reached prominence relatively quickly. Their rivalry became increasingly sharp as the primary contest intensified.
Piñera was a senator with significant business interests and national name recognition. Matthei was a deputy and the daughter of a prominent military figure. Their competition for the support of the right-wing Union for Progress coalition created internal tensions within National Renewal.
On August 23, 1992, the political television program A eso de..., broadcast live on the private channel Megavisión, became the setting for a dramatic political confrontation. Ricardo Claro, the businessman who presided over the channel and hosted the program, announced that he had received a recorded tape earlier that day from a man he did not know. Claro played the recording on-air using a Kioto-brand cassette player—a detail that gave the episode its popular nickname, Kiotazo.
I have received some quite serious information that the independence of this program may be threatened. You know that I receive a lot of information, which comes in the most incredible ways, without me even asking for it. Today, after lunch, I received a man I didn't know. He told me, "You pride yourself on being very independent, but there are people at your channel who are intervening," and he handed me a recorded tape of an apparently telephonic conversation between Jorge Andrés Richards' friend, Pedro Pablo Díaz, and Senator Sebastián Piñera. On that tape, the voice that appears to be Sebastián Piñera's tells Pedro Pablo Díaz, "You have to talk to Jorge Andrés Richards so that Evelyn Matthei is treated in a certain way, asked about divorce, what her position is on divorce, put her in evidence that she changes her opinion just like her father." Pedro Pablo Díaz, who is a Coca-Cola executive that I know, replies, "Look, I'll talk to the 'pelao' (Jorge Andrés Richards)." I brought the recording here. I apologize to the audience because the recording is not the best. This device is very bad, but also because there are a series of words that are not salon-appropriate. Nonetheless, I think it's interesting to know this...
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