Chile’s President Fined €2800 for No-Mask Beach Selfie

SEBASTIAN PINERA, the President of Chile, has been fined 2 million pesos for after a photo of him posing for a selfie with no facemask went viral on social media.

The photo was taken at the start of December but has only emerged now, causing outcry in Chile with many criticising Pinera for breaking the rules imposed by his own government. He reported himself to health officials on Friday and was fined 2 million pesos (roughly €2800) for “non-compliance with the use of a mask in a public place”.

The now infamous selfie was taken with a member of the public, who recognised the President while he was taking a walk on the beach in Zampallar, a resort town popular with Chile’s political and business elites.

In a social media statement, Pinera said that “the walk was quite lonely until some people recognised me and asked me to take a picture”, adding “surely I should have put on the mask, but because of the speed with which the events occurred I did not do so”.

Last year Pinera was the subject of another photo scandal when he was pictured enjoying a pizza party while violent anti-government protests swept the Chilean capital Santiago. The Latin American country has seen over half a million Covid cases since the outbreak began, with 16,000 deaths. The recent return of good weather has seen cases reduce from their Winter peak between May and June.

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