The Chilean President, gabriel borichas announced the dismissal of five of its ministers, including the chancellor, Antonia Urrejolawhich will be replaced by alberto van klaverenformer undersecretary for International Relations and former ambassador to Belgium.
They also come out of the cabinet Juan Carlos Garcia (Public Works), Juliet Brodsky (Culture), Alexandra Benado (Sports) and Silvia Diaz (Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation), which will be replaced by jessica lopez, James Aguirre, James Pizarro and Aisen Etcheverry.
“What motivates me to make these changes (…) are not political pressures or minor compensation, the purpose is to improve our response capacity and management in the face of emergencies that our country has today,” Boric said after swear in the new members of his cabinet in statements collected by efe.
[Chile vuelve a la casilla de salida: los 4 escenarios que se abren tras el rechazo a la nueva Constitución]
This is the second ministerial change that Boric has made since he took office just a year ago and it occurs two days after having received his biggest legislative defeat, when the Chamber of Deputies rejected his promised tax reformwith which it intended to finance its social program and collect 3.6% of GDP in four years.
“We need teams with knowledge of the State, with new energy and also with the necessary experience to be able to respond to urgent demands without delay or excuses,” said the president, who insisted that “majorities” are needed and “broaden the support base.” .
profound changes
The rumor of a new ministerial adjustment had been going around for weeks and was claimed both by the opposition and by one of the two pro-government coalitions, Socialismo Democrático, which felt underrepresented in the face of Approve Dignity (Communist Party and Broad Front), the bloc of boric.
The entrance of Van Klaveren supposes a reinforcement of Democratic Socialismmade up of the traditional center-left parties that have governed Chile since the fall of the military regime.
Van Klaveren is a well-known name in regional diplomacy and, although he is not a member of the military, he is close to the Party for Democracy (PPD), to which the Minister of the Interior and chief of staff, Carolina Tohá, belongs.
He was Undersecretary of Foreign Relations during the first term of Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010), former Chilean ambassador to Belgium and Chilean agent before The Hague during the maritime dispute with Peru.
[Una foto viral de unos pies de mujer pone en jaque al embajador de Chile en España y amigo de Boric]
Currently, he was the director of the International Legal and Economic Relations Academic Unit of the Institute of International Studies of the University of Chile.
Urrejola’s management had been in the spotlight for weeksespecially after the leak on January 24 of an audio in which he angrily criticized, along with various officials from his ministry, the Argentine ambassador to Chile, Rafael Bielsa.
Former president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and with no political affiliation, Urrejola is credited with Boric’s harsh condemnation in international forums against the Nicaraguan and Venezuelan regimes, a position that has set him apart from other progressive leaders in the region.
The change in the Foreign Ministry is profound and also affects the two undersecretaries: Ximena Fuentes (Foreign Relations) and Jose Miguel Ahumada (International Economic Relations), harshly criticized for questioning Chilean foreign trade policy, especially the signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, known as TPP-11.
In addition to Fuentes and Ahumada, 13 other Undersecretaries of State were replaced.
Boric made his first ministerial adjustment after the constitutional plebiscite on September 4, when he lost the government’s option and more than 62% of Chileans rejected the proposal for a new Magna Carta.
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