Chilean President Gabriel Boric reshuffled his cabinet on August 16. Education, Mining, National Assets and Culture have a new head while he saved the Minister of Housing, involved in a scandal of alleged irregularities with private foundations. The ministerial adjustment occurs after several weeks of pressure from the opposition and the resignation of the Minister of Social Development, Giorgio Jackson, also mentioned in the plot.
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Like castling in chess, the king strengthens your security.
The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, modified his cabinet of ministers for the third time, promoting changes in five portfolios and protecting the Ministry of Housing, indicated for weeks in the ‘Agreement Case’.
The change, although it occurs at a time when the opposition demands more action, does not redirect Boric’s strategy as critics claimed and instead seeks to appease the crisis facing the ruling party.
Boric replaced the former Minister of Education, Marco Antonio Avila, and appointed Nicholas Cataldountil now Undersecretary of Regional and Administrative Development and one of the strong names of the Communist Party, who would assume for the first time one of the ministries with the most public funds.
“It is a responsibility that I assume with the greatest of urgency because we are going through a complex scenario: the reactivation and recovery of learning is part of the main agenda of our Government,” said Cataldo.
the independent actress Caroline Arredondo will be the new Minister of Culture, a surprise move considering that there is less than a month to go before the 50th anniversary of the military coup against Salvador Allende. This, according to critics, is a sign that the change in La Moneda was made in a hurry. The actress replaces Jaime de Aguirre, appointed only six months ago, but involved in controversy when he rejected Chile as the guest of honor country at the 2025 edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
aurora williams assumes a crucial portfolio: Mines. Williams was a former minister of this agency in the second government of former President Michelle Bachelet.
Meanwhile, in National Assets, the journalist and former deputy Marcela Sandovalreplacing Javiera Toro, who will replace Giorgio Jackson, the president’s right-hand man, in Social Development.
Jackson submitted his resignation a week ago harassed by the ‘Agreements Case’. The former official is the founder and one of the main leaders of the Democratic Revolution, DR, a party that has been implicated in the alleged irregularities in the transfer of public funds to private foundations.
The case, uncovered in Antofagasta, caused the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office to investigate other foundations close to the ruling party, while the Public Ministry assured that it would summon former minister Jackson and the Minister of Housing, Carlos Montes, who still remains in office despite the opposition claim.
The scandal was used by critics to pressure Boric to carry out a ministerial reform that ended up occurring five months after the last change, one that Boric made in March after the defeat of the ruling party in the Constitutional Council elections.
Juan Ignacio Latorre, president of the RD: “For us it is a reduction”
Revolucion Democratica lost a ministry due to the scandal, and only assumed the portfolio of National Assets. “Obviously, for us it is a reduction compared to the position we had, but our loyalty to the government does not depend on the relative position in the cabinet,” said Juan Ignacio Latorre, party president.
“This cabinet change was intended to remove the DR from the front line of government, it is the one who loses out due to the media exposure that the party has had and the damage it has generated as a brand, negatively taxing the prestige of the Executive,” he told EFE. Rodrigo Espinoza, a political scientist from the Diego Portales University.
The change of cabinet is more of the same. Cosmetic to get rid of problems and not a change of direction to face them. It is distribution of power among its militants. Bad ideas must be changed. Chile will not forgive corruption, insecurity and economic stagnation
— Javier Macaya (@javiermacaya) August 16, 2023
In the ministerial adjustments, the main winner was the Communist Party, PC, according to Espinoza, since it added one more minister to the cabinet. “The PC ended up being favored with a portfolio that it had asked for when the government won the elections,” added Espinoza.
But Boric kept his base board intact. An example of this is Camila Vallejo, the minister spokesperson for La Moneda, who, along with Jackson and the president, were part of the student triangle where Boric was formed as a leader.
“They change names, but there are no leadership changes,” reacted Francisco Chahuan, senator and president of Renovacion Nacional. “It’s more of the same, to get out of the problems and not a change of course to face them,” said the senator of the Independent Democratic Union, Javier Macaya.
“It is a distribution of power among its militants. Bad ideas must be changed. Chile will not forgive corruption, insecurity and economic stagnation,” Macaya wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
with EFE
Source: France 24
