Miguel Piñera, the musician brother of the former Chilean president: “Sebastián felt invincible”

It is around 10:00 p.m. on Monday the 12th in a sushi restaurant in the commune of La Reina, a municipality in the eastern sector of Santiago.

Miguel Piñera (Santiago, 69 years old), the only one of the brothers of the late former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera (74) who dedicated himself to music and night events, is sitting in this place.

A week has passed since the helicopter accident in Lake Ranco in the south of the country in which the former president of the traditional right lost his life.

He says he just feels that he can talk more calmly about what happened.

Miguel Piñera is the fifth of the six Piñera Echenique brothers.

While José, Sebastián and Pablo studied Economics at the Catholic University, and Magdalena, History, he began a career as a singer that, he says, took him to travel the world as a street artist.

“I went to the United States by land, I sang in the Paris metro and passed the hat.

It was going very well for me, because I speak four languages.

Also, I consider myself a tremendous singer, I don't know what people say, but I sing beautifully.

“I have ten albums.”

To the list of countries he adds that he has also sung in Brazil, Mexico and Hawaii.

And he continues: “In California I sang in clubs.

I lived for many years in the United States, more than 15 years, also in Europe;

my father was an ambassador.

I lived in Brazil, that's why I speak languages, it's not because I'm intelligent.

I learned languages ​​when I was little,” he says.

The routine of Negro Piñera, as he is popularly known in Chile, is also different from that of the rest of his family.

He wakes up when the sun sets, meets with friends, sings in different clubs and goes to bed when the sun rises.

“I am a bohemian, I am a vampire, I am

opus night

, Sebastian was

opus day

”, he jokes.

“He lived by day and I lived by night, but it's not that he was from Opus Dei.

Sebastián always supported me in all my craziness.

He was a good brother...I'm going to miss him so much.”

Question:

How did you find out about the accident?

Answer:

I was at my house.

Here in La Reina I have my studio, where I record and compose.

And they called me.

Five minutes later, a neighbor of Sebastián's in Lago Ranco called me and told me: “Negro, your brother's helicopter just fell into the lake.

And three people came out, including my sister Magdalena, and Sebastián did not come out.

I mean, he didn't go out anymore... he didn't go out anymore.

10 minutes had already passed.

Q.

How did you experience that moment?

A.

I went black, I'm still black.

Yes, I'm

shocked.

I no longer have tears or words left to express everything I have in my heart.

I thought about going there, but they brought it the next day, so I preferred not to go.

But I was every day at the former Congress [at the wake in Santiago] accompanying him.

Q.

What was your relationship like?

A.

He was always a great brother, very affectionate to me.

My mother, before she died [in 2000], when she realized that she had little time left, she called us, took out a Bible, made us put our hands on it and said: “Sebastián, you take care of Miguel. , the black".

Q.

Was he like a father to you?

A.

He is my dad.

He took care of me like a son.

He always invited me on all the trips.

He really liked cruises, we did the Baltic Sea, the Adriatic Sea, we went down the Nile, we did the Alaskan Sea, the Mediterranean many times and the Caribbean, not to mention.

Q.

Did you also go out together at night?

R.

Obviously, he was going to my place to sing.

To

Entrenegros

, to

Seriatutix

.

Always.

He really liked to sing, I always invited him to the stage.

I recorded three songs now dedicated to him:

Gracias a la vida,

because he really liked Violeta Parra;

I recorded

Gervasio's

With a Shovel and a Hat .

And now I'm composing a song for him.

Miguel Piñera with his brother Sebastián. Courtesy

Q.

When was the last time you spoke?

A.

I spoke with Sebastián every other day and I was eating at his house a few days before.

Sebastián went back and forth from Ranco to Santiago.

Q.

Did you challenge him a lot?

A.

He never challenged me.

I was impressed by that about him, because suddenly I would behave badly, but he never challenged me, ever.

And I have sent myself many

condors

[mistakes].

Q.

Do you think he admired your freedom?

A.

Obviously yes, because I have enjoyed my life to the fullest [to the fullest].

Because of everything he worked for, I enjoyed life.

Sebastián worked 16 hours and I sang, if my passion is music.

And working at night, where will I sing during the day?

Q.

Did you ask him for advice?

A.

Yes, I advised him that when President Obama came to Chile (in 2011) he should invite Los Jaivas.

They are my friends, I have sung with them several times.

He listened to me, and it was a complete success.

Q.

And political advice?

A.

I have never liked politics, I find it very dirty.

We never talk about politics, we do talk about other things.

Q.

What did you like most about him?

A.

It's not that I liked him, it's that he impressed me, I admired Sebastián for his ability, his strength to work.

I opened a restaurant-disco in Playa del Carmen.

A large place for 1,500 people many years ago.

And I saw him one day on TV, tired, he was very wrinkled.

I went to his house and told him, “Let's go to Cancun!

I invite you".

And we left;

At that time he was a senator.

We were going for a week and on the third day I got up and asked: 'Have you seen Sebastián?'

And he had returned to Chile.

He was a workaholic.

He couldn't relax in a hammock looking at beautiful women, it wasn't his style.

Q.

Did they ever fight?

A.

No, I never fought with my brother.

Well, we Piñeras are all very passionate, we defend our positions with great passion, but Sebastián always supported me in all my craziness.

Sebastián and Miguel Piñera with their sister Guadalupe, the eldest of the family, who died in 2017. Courtesy

Q.

What is the song you are composing for him going to say?

A.

No, keep quiet, I'm not going to say anything until I have finished it.

I have to work on it a lot, because I want it to be the most beautiful song I have ever made in my life.

I'm going to launch it in another week.

I'm already composing.

But he is going to talk about his strengths and virtues, Sebastián was a person who had no resentment, zero resentment.

Q.

What did that look like?

A.

He forgave Boric for treating him very badly, but I thank the president for the mea culpa he made in Congress, and Minister Tohá behaved very well.

Now I'm going to support Evelyn Matthei to the death.

She is my candidate.

Sebastián told her that he was going to support her in her campaign.

Q.

Was she your successor?

A.

No, Sebastián has no successor or successor.

He is unique, he was a character, his capacity for work and entrepreneurship, his energy, were impressive.

Good for the horse, for the motorcycle, for the ball.

Good for tennis, our tennis matches were to the death.

We played in Caburgua (in the south of Chile, in the La Araucanía Region).

Q.

Were you afraid of death?

A.

No, that's why I did all those extreme sports.

He went diving at 40 meters, he rode horses, paraglided, motorcycles, he was a pilot.

He felt invincible, he was from another planet.

He was 74 years old and much better off than me.

And I believe that he died in his law.

Q.

That's what your brother Pablo also said.

R.

Did he say that?

She copied me.

He died happy, in his best moment, with his family, his grandchildren, in a wonderful place, piloting his ship.

I see how he must have struggled to take off his belt (in the helicopter), and he finally took it off, after how many minutes down there.

He fought her, he was a fighter.

Subscribe here

to the EL PAÍS Chile newsletter and receive all the key information on current events in the country.