The elected president of Chile appointed his new ministers for the beginning of his mandate. Seeking to have greater parliamentary consensus, where he will be a minority, he appointed members of the leftist and independent spaces that did not support him in the first round of the elections. It will also have the peculiarity of having more women than men for the first time in history.
This Friday, January 21, the new president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, revealed how his cabinet will be composed for the beginning of his term. The payroll throws up interesting edges for political analysis that point to the hard work and dialogue that they will have to apply in Parliament, a very fragmented space and where the Executive will be one of the minorities.
In Boric’s decisions, the one to include members of other leftist political spaces stands out, such as the Broad Front and the Communist Party, who did not accompany Approve Dignidad in the elections last December and give a third to independent referents and without a party.
“We have formed this work team with prepared people, with knowledge and experience, committed to the change agenda that the country needs and with the ability to add views, different perspectives and new visions,” Boric stated.
A new challenge begins and we reach the Vocería! I assume this great responsibility with joy and conviction. We have been doing this path tod@s; That is why we do not let go, to advance towards the changes that Chile needs. Thank you pdte @gabrielboric for the trust ❤️ #we continue pic.twitter.com/vLQFfX3Z9r
– Camila Vallejo Dowling (@camila_vallejo) January 21, 2022
Second, will exceed gender parity: 14 of the 24 officials will be women, noting that some of them will occupy transcendental portfolios such as the Foreign Ministry, Interior and Security, Environment, Justice, Labor, among others. It will be the first cabinet in Chilean history with a female majority.
Thirdly, the place of importance for young people: sseven of the 24 ministers are under 40 years old. However, it keeps the experienced ones in heavy positions such as the Ministry of Finance, Education, Foreign Affairs and Housing. The average age of the cabinet will be 42 years.
On March 11, the president-elect will have his official inauguration and will become, at 42 years old, the youngest president to sit in the presidential chair of La Moneda, the Chilean government house.
Treasury, Interior, Foreign Ministry and Boric’s trusted staff
Among the novelties that appear in the appointments of President Boric, the name of Mario Marcel who is the current president of the Central Bank and who will be the future Minister of Finance, in a sign of the moderation of the new president. A former member of the Socialist Party, Marcel has a long history and has been in macroeconomic positions in almost all governments since the return of democracy.
While Izkia Siches, an independent doctor who was president of the Medical Association until the electoral period, will occupy the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, thus becoming the first woman in Chilean history to take over the position. She was also the campaign manager for Gabriel Boric, considered a key player in the approach to citizenship.
will be in the Foreign Ministry Antonia Urrejola, who knew how to be the president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. At 53 years old and ideologically close to socialism, this opportunity comes to her after being an adviser and adviser to different Chilean politicians, including former president Michelle Bachelet in her second stage.
For their part, Boric’s trusted personnel will also have important positions close to the Head of State. The communist and deputy Camila Vallejo will be the new spokesperson; while George Jackson, right hand of the leftist leader, will be in the General Secretariat of the Presidency, which has a vital role in relations with Parliament.
A cabinet that will seek governability
To that end and trying to achieve rapprochement in Parliament, there will be members of parties from the old Concertación, such as the Socialist Party, the Party for Democracy, the Liberal Party and the Radical Party.
One of the most emblematic cases is that of maya fernandez, affiliated with the PS and granddaughter of the ousted Salvador Allende, who It will be in charge of National Defense and will control the three branches of the Armed Forces.
I want to thank the president @gabrielboric the trust placed in me to be part of the #cabinet in the Ministry of Defense. Now it is up to all of us to work to make life in our country more and more just. pic.twitter.com/8HPfmoZE8i
— Maya Fernandez Allende (@Mayafernandeza) January 21, 2022
Other examples are Senator Carlos Montes (75 years old, also a socialist) in the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism, Jeanette del Rosario Vega (64, from the PPD) in Social Development and Family and Juan Carlos Garcia (61, liberal) in Public Works, Juan Carlos Munoz (51, independent) in Transport and Telecommunications and Claudio Huepe (55, independent) in Energy.
Boric’s party appear Flavio Salazar (56, communist) in Science, Nicholas Grau (38, Social Convergence) in Economy, Development and Tourism, Marco Antonio Avila (44, member of the Democratic Revolution) in Education, Stephen Valenzuela (57, Social Green Regionalist Front) in Agriculture.
female preponderance
As we have already pointed out, Boric’s cabinet will be the first in Chilean history to have a majority of women, with 14 out of 24 ministries. Their performance will be of transcendental importance for the administration that will take office in March, since they will occupy prominent places, such as the cases of Siches, Vallejo, Urrejola, Vega and Fernández.
The Health portfolio, which becomes even more relevant in times when the Ómicron variant hits South America, will be in the hands of Maria Begona Yarza (57, independent). In her resume, the surgeon boasts of having been director of the Exequiel González Cortés hospital.
The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights will be in charge of Marcela Rios (55, from CS) who spent a large part of her career in the United Nations Development Program and has worked to put issues of inequality, justice and gender on the agenda.
Work and Social Welfare will be for the communist Jeannete Jara (47) who was Undersecretary of Social Welfare between 2016 and 2018. The journalist Cosmic Antonia (32) will be in Women and Gender Equity; Javiera Bull (34) will be the Minister of National Assets, Maisa Rojas (49, independent) of Environment, Juliet Brodsky (38) of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Marcela Herrando (61, radical) of Mining and, finally, Alexandra Benado (45) Sports.
With EFE and local media
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