Another Latin American State, Chile, Hit by Brazil-Like Scandal

``As in Brazil's mounting scandal, one company sits at the center. In Brazil it is state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA funneling money to politicians; in Chile it is Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA, or SQM, the fertilizer producer that supplies more than a fifth of the world's lithium and is controlled by Julio Ponce, the former son-in-law of Augusto Pinochet, the country's one-time dictator. And while the funds involved in Chile are a pittance compared with those in Brazil, the reach is helping to discredit the entire political class.''