We invite you to read the reflection of our partner Gabriel Zaliasnik in his opinion column called “The mask of Agamemnon”, published in La Tercera newspaper, regarding the Law on Economic Crimes.
It is believed that the mask of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae who led the Greeks during the Trojan War, was discovered in 1876 by archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann during his excavations in the Peloponnese. Like all funerary masks, one of its functions was to conceal the deterioration of the image of the wearer against the vicissitudes of the passage of time.
For the same reason, the commotion caused by the mere fact that some editorials, trade organizations and academics -among which I count myself- have drawn attention to the defects of the Economic Crimes Act (ECA) passed by the National Congress, seems to reveal that behind the brightness of the golden mask of the ECA, there are much less virtuous reasons than the ones being put forward.
It is not trivial the discursive simplicity used to cancel the voices of those who dissent. The idea that behind the questions there are spurious interests and the recurrent use of ad hominem fallacies to attack the messengers is crude. So are the half-truths that are argued, such as arguing that the law does not sanction -or at least aggravates- the situation of managers and directors for the mere fact of holding their positions, but “for participating in the active perpetration of a crime in a higher hierarchical position in the organization”.
Those who so conveniently understand and report it (Matamala) would do well to reproduce textually the norm, which does not speak of “active perpetration of a crime”, but only of active participation in an organization. That is to say, exactly what it is to hold a senior management position.
Playing with words in law has serious consequences, so it is preferable to admit that the near unanimity of the National Congress is not synonymous with infallibility. It is highly probable that deputies and senators made mistakes in the drafting of the law, which at this point would not surprise anyone.
Source: La Tercera, July 18, 2023.
