Antofagasta municipality faces multimillion embargo

The Second Civil Court in Antofagasta ordered the seizure of municipal bank accounts this week, escalating a decade-old legal fight into an immediate cash-flow problem for the city. The measure is tied to a civil damages case that began in 2016 over unpaid invoices and interest claimed by Servicios Generales Global Ltda. Local media reports and the municipality’s public statements say the amount now frozen exceeds 8 billion pesos, with 24 Horas reporting more than 8.5 billion pesos. The municipality says the original debt was already paid in 2018 and plans to challenge the embargo in court. ### How did a 2016 dispute turn into an 8.5 billion peso embargo? The case dates to 2016, when Servicios Generales Global Ltda. sued the Municipality of Antofagasta after the city was ordered to pay six invoices and related interest worth roughly 4 billion pesos, according to BioBioChile and Diario de Antofagasta. The dispute arose during the administration of former mayor Karen Rojo, 24 Horas reported. (24horas.cl) By 2018, the current municipal administration says, more than 4 billion pesos had already been paid to lawyer Carlos Claussen Calvo. The municipality says Claussen later acquired the litigation rights tied to the company through Asesorías Contables y Financieras RLL SpA and continued pursuing compensation that now exceeds 8 billion pesos. (biobiochile.cl) ### Why does the municipality say the embargo should not have happened? Article 32 of Chile’s Organic Constitutional Law on Municipalities makes municipal assets and funds inembargable, the municipality said in statements cited by BioBioChile, Diario de Antofagasta and Region2. On that basis, city officials called the court order illegal and said they would pursue legal action to reverse it. (biobiochile.cl) 24 Horas reported that the municipality intends to appeal using that inembargability argument. The outlet said the city is seeking to overturn the freeze while warning that the ruling has opened a financial and administrative crisis for the local government. ### What does Carlos Claussen say happened after the original ruling? (biobiochile.cl) Carlos Claussen told 24 Horas and BioBioChile that he tried to negotiate installment payment agreements with municipal administrations that followed Karen Rojo’s term. He said those efforts did not produce satisfactory responses. 24 Horas also reported that Claussen defended the ruling after it was confirmed in the Court of Appeals and said he had met with current mayor Sacha Razmilic. (24horas.cl) That report attributed to Claussen criticism of the city’s handling of the case, while the municipality accused him of trying to obtain “millionaire profits” from public money despite what it says was a prior payment. ### Which city services could be affected if the freeze remains in place? Municipal officials said the embargo puts at risk money earmarked for health, education, public security, green-area maintenance, street lighting and street cleaning. Those warnings appeared in statements carried by BioBioChile, Diario de Antofagasta and 24 Horas. (24horas.cl) The municipality framed the issue as an operational threat because the order targets current accounts rather than a future appropriation. Local coverage described the freeze as immediately affecting resources used for essential services in Antofagasta. ### What is the next legal step? The municipality said on May 21 that it would file legal actions to challenge the embargo and seek relief under the rule that protects municipal funds from seizure. (biobiochile.cl) Local reports did not specify a hearing date or deadline for the next court filing. (24horas.cl) Antofagasta’s next move is now in the hands of its legal team and the civil courts reviewing the embargo order. Any change in the freeze, or any payment arrangement involving Carlos Claussen and the municipality, will come through those proceedings. (24horas.cl) (diarioantofagasta.cl)