The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejolaresponded Tuesday to opposition criticism of the government’s political appointments to diplomatic posts.
Within the framework of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Senate, the parliamentarian Ivan Moreira (UDI) reminded the chancellor of the filmmaker’s nomination German Berger – son of the deputy Carmen Hertz (PC)- as a cultural attache in Spain.
The Consul General of Chile in Barcelona, Jaime Ferrazpointed out to the undersecretary of Foreign Relations, Ximena Fuentesthat he was unaware of the appointment and that Berger’s presence in Barcelona could lead to diplomatic problems.
“When you were in opposition to the government of President (Sebastian) Pineraa government that, beyond all the criticisms that are made in the international aspect, I would say that it rewarded the official career in the Foreign Ministry,” Moreira said in the commission, adding
The legislator pointed out that the President Gabriel Boric, when he was a candidate, “he spoke of cronyism, that people were going to be in their positions because of their ability.” The senator stated that “the government is not doing what it promised to do.”
“The President has followed the campaign commitment”
Foreign Minister Urrejola responded to the criticism of the UDI parliamentarian and stated that “the President and his Government and this Foreign Ministry have followed the campaign commitment and what has been the practice of governments in recent years, of all governments, in relation to that political appointments do not exceed 20% of career appointments,” emmol.
“To date, we have 13 political appointments, there are 4 that are pending and those are going to be the only ones. That is, we are talking about 17 out of a total universe of 93. There are 93 embassies and where we have ambassadors, of which only 17 are going to be political appointments,” he said.
The authority highlighted the appointment of the ambassador to the European Union, Gloria Navarreterecently appointed. Urrejola relieved that “it is not a political appointment”, but “it is a career appointment”.
