Chilean President sells TV channel to Time Warner

SANTIAGO - Chilean President Sebastian Pinera sold his television channel, Chilevision, to Time Warner for around $160 million, the US media giant said Wednesday.

The sale, which had long been demanded by politicians in both the ruling party and in the opposition, sought to prevent Pinera from having a conflict of interest, since as president he names television industry regulators.

Pinera is one of the richest people in Chile and has had to carry out several of these sales since he was inaugurated in March.

“It would be good, for the sake of transparency, to know where the more than $1 billion are which the president has obtained from these sales,” business leader Roberto Fantuzzi said Wednesday.