Huasco Valley property owners who live below the Pascua Lama gold mine and administer US$3 million yearly in �hush� money given them by mine owner Barrick Gold charged this weekend that their predecessors used Barrick�s money for personal gain.

Canada�s Barrick Gold agreed in 2005 to pay US$60 million over 20 years to benefit residents affected by the construction of its Pascua Lama open-pit mine, which sits on the border between Chile and Argentina. This money was to be given to community development projects and was to be dispersed by a special elected board of landowners.

The current board recently released a public statement condemning previous board decisions, and ordered an audit into the previous board's financial activity.

�This board is constrained by the disastrous work of the former administrators,� said current board managers Fransisco Bou and Luis Mansilla in their public statement. �We are looking to manage resources that have been grotesquely diverted to satisfy the personal interests of the previous administrators.�

Bou and Mansilla point to their recently published audit, which shows that approximately US$565,000 was allocated by earlier boards to interests affiliated with the former manager, Iv�n Pavletic. Invoices from financial records indicate the money was allocated for �project management� to Pavletic and for �environmental impact studies� to a company run by Pavletic's ex-wife, Michaela Heisig.

The board president from that period � Fernando Gonzalez Grey � strongly defended expenditures made during his stewardship, saying expenses approved during his administration were all legitimate and were even reviewed by those now making accusations.

�Each peso that was paid to Don Iv�n and Do�a Michaela is integrated in a budget that was approved by the board,� said Grey. �The expenses were brought before the board and were accepted by all, including Fransisco Bou.�

Grey also said the recent allegations were a smokescreen designed to cover up financial chicanery carried out by the current board. �This is a smokescreen to hide the $200 million pesos (US$386,473) that was not approved in the budget by the board, among other things," said Gray.

The charges and counter-charges appear to have galvanized significant opposition to the current board. Opponents insist they have the votes necessary to oust Bou and Mansilla when a new board is elected in October.