Controversies, errors or ignorance of the citizenry. These were some of the reasons for the departure of ministers and undersecretaries in the recent cabinet change carried out by the Government of President Gabriel Boric, just one day before the first celebration of the year of his mandate.
Specifically, there were 5 ministers who left and 15 undersecretaries. And each of the names came out because either they did not comply with what was ordered by the President or because of a series of mistakes they made.
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Perhaps the most emblematic case is the departure of the now ex-chancellor, Antonia Urrejola. Although she is close to President Boric, her term at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was marked by various controversies, such as the leaked audio where he referred in harsh terms to the Argentine ambassador to Chile, Rafael Bielsa; or his disagreements with the also now former Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, José Miguel Ahumada. He also had to deal with diplomatic impasses from Chilean ambassadors abroad and communication errors from the President himself.
Another output that was marked by controversy was Juan Carlos Garcia of the Ministry of Public Works. He is targeted mainly due to a deficit in his ex-portfolio. According to figures from the Budget Office, in 2022 the MOP invested US$3.260 million, of which US$3.157 million were effective investment and US$103 million were payments for retroactive polynomial readjustment of previously executed works. In other words, the effective investment of the MOP fell 3% in 2022 compared to 2021. In addition, it is accused of making no progress in the tenders.
In Sports, the output of Alexandra Benado It was practically announced for days. With the Pan American Games on the horizon, the minister was unable to capitalize on the popularity of the most important sporting event in the country since the 1962 World Cup. Delays in the works and an impasse in the General Assembly of Panam Sport -it took an hour to reach a meeting with 350 guests – marked their departure. In addition, she had various crosses with the president of the ANFP, Pablo Milad.
In case of Juliet Brodsky in Culture and Silvia Diaz in Sciences is particular. Although the former was questioned in various situations, such as delays in the payment of bonuses to artists or when she said that the Property Law was “terrible”, her departure, along with that of Díaz, is due to the null knowledge that both they had on the public, according to recently published surveys such as Data Influye.
The case of the undersecretaries of Foreign Affairs
In total, 15 undersecretaries were removed in the recent cabinet change. The most striking case is what happened in Foreign Affairs, since along with Urrejola, the two undersecretaries also left.
The best known of both is Jose Miguel Ahumada, former International Economic Relations. At least two events marked his controversial passage through the Foreign Ministry. The first, when he announced a citizen consultation to redefine and legitimize foreign trade policy, which caused discomfort in the Minister of Finance, Mario Marcel. And the second, related to the TPP-11, a treaty that did not have the support of Ahumada, for which he delayed his signing, justifying this delay in the signing of side letters with the signatory countries of the treaty. He finally managed only one, with New Zealand.
In case of Ximena Fuentes It is different, since although the former Undersecretary of Foreign Relations had the support of President Boric himself, he decided to completely dismantle the Foreign Ministry so that under the mandate of Alberto van Klaveren the prestige of the ministry can be recovered.
the other 13
Below are the possible causes that led to the departure of another 13 former undersecretaries in this cabinet change:
- General Undersecretary of Government: Valeska Naranjo (CS) left for political balance, since he got along very well with the spokesperson minister Camila Vallejo.
- Undersecretary of Finance: Claudia Sanhueza (RD) arrived at the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations.
- Defense Undersecretary: Gabriel Gaspar (PPD) for political balance.
- Undersecretariat of Tourism: Veronica Kunze (IND) reason unknown.
- Undersecretariat for Children: Yolanda Pizarro (PPD) Reason unknown.
- Undersecretary of Education: Gabriel Forest (PC) Reason unknown.
- Undersecretary of Higher Education: Veronica Figueroa (IND) reason unknown.
- Human Rights Undersecretary: haydee oberreuter (IND) and his style generated friction with Minister Luis Cordero. He was also in the eye of the hurricane due to the Case of Carpetas, when he had to report the existence of nearly 12,000 documents with accounts of ex-conscripts that would have given records related to human rights violations and disappearances during the dictatorship, but which remained without Check in the offices.
- Undersecretary of Public Health: Christopher Square (DR). The reasons for the departure of the man who was in charge of the Covid-19 balance sheet for the last time are unknown. In fact, in his last speech on this matter, his account had a farewell tone, since he began to list the achievements of the Ministry of Health under his direction as undersecretary.
- Undersecretary of Agriculture: Jose Guajardo (FRVS). The reasons for his departure are unknown, rumors point to a change of scenery in the portfolio.
- Undersecretariat of Transportation: Christopher Pineda (DR). Reasons unknown.
- Undersecretariat of National Assets: Marilen Cabrera (IND-AH). Reasons unknown.
- Undersecretariat of Energy: Julio Maturana (PCs). Reasons unknown.
