MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Another scandal for President Lagos.

Rough times for Chile's president Ricardo Lagos. After the imprisonment of several close aides working in his former Ministry of Public Works; the stripping of legislative privilege of five Deputies belonging to the ruling coalition and suspected of taking bribes, and a contrary court ruling regarding additional undercover payments, (perks), to political appointees in the civil service, Mr. Lagos now faces another scandal with claims of pressures on the press to prevent the publication of an article devastating for the junior partner of the coalition.

The case involves the Institute for Agricultural Development, Indap, a government organization under the influence of Christian Democrats that supposedly supports small farmers and has in the last decade invested a billion US dollars with that purpose.

However according to a journalist investigative team from the Santiago daily La Nación, 60% of that money never reached farmers but rather was lost in the way in beefy consulting contracts to political cronies of the Christian Democrats, a complex but effective system that allegedly helped finance one of the two strongest political parties in Chile.

The special article was to be published in La Nación Sunday May 18 edition but was delayed several days until an interview with the Director of Indap Ricardo Halabí could be confirmed, which never materialized. Since then the newspaper's editor has refused publication officially alleging "lack of balance", but privately admitting to the pressures.

Reporters of the Sunday edition of La Nación resigned in protest for what they consider censorship and unbelievable coercion from Christian Democrats against the newspaper, 60% of which belongs to the government.

Actually Mr. Halabí from Indap requested a list of written questions but then refused to answer several of them.

The article was written by Alexandra Matus, a relatively well know Chilean journalist who is the past has faced controversial situations, and the original information on the subject was supplied by Chilean Senator Nestor Avila.

However Chile's Comptrollers Office that is also investigating the case, confirmed several irregularities in Indap' contracting.