Gabriel Boric presents his cabinet in Chile: 4 surprises from the country’s next government

“I ask my ministers to listen twice as much as they speak,” he added.

Next, in BBC Mundo we present you 4 keys about the appointment of the team of the next president of Chile.

1. Strong presence of women

Although the president-elect had already announced that his government would be equal, it was surprising that 14 ministries (out of a total of 24) will be headed by women.

One of the most symbolic names is that of Iskia Siches, who will be the first woman to hold the position of Minister of the Interior in the history of Chile.

Siches was the president-elect’s campaign manager. The 35-year-old doctor gained prominence during the pandemic, when she was in charge of the Medical College, an important Chilean union organization.

She is considered a key player in Boric’s triumph, with whom she is also very close personally.

“Iskia showed great political skills during the campaign, but she is also deeply trusted by Boric. He has known her for many years and is someone with whom he has a close relationship,” Javier Sajuria, political scientist and academic at Queen, explains to BBC Mundo. Mary University of London.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also be occupied by a woman, Antonia Urrejola, who was president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2021.

She is the second woman to occupy the Chilean Foreign Ministry.

2. Calm signal to businessmen

It is certainly a sign of calm for Chilean businessmen.

The signing of Mario Marcel in Finance is, for many investors, a guarantee of fiscal responsibility and good governance.

The current president of the Central Bank of Chile is one of the country’s most respected economists and it enjoys fairly transversal support, despite the fact that it has been criticized by the hardest left on some occasions.

“It is a sign of calm, he is someone from the left but who has proven to be faithful to traditional economic consensus. He gives peace of mind to Chilean businessmen and to everyone. He is a responsible guy, who has built his reputation on that side,” explains Sajuria. .

3. Incorporation of traditional parties

Another of the surprises of this new cabinet is the incorporation of members from traditional parties of the Chilean left and who were part of the so-called Concertación, which governed the country at different times during the last 30 years.

The president-elect’s decision to add them to his administration is due to the need to secure parliamentary majorities that allow him to advance in his government program.

And it is that his coalition, called I approve Dignity, only has 37 deputies (out of a total of 155) and 5 senators (out of a total of 43).

Thus, Boric chose to reconfigure the coalition that will support his government and broaden his base of political and social support, incorporating three ministers from the Socialist Party (PS), and a representative from the PPD, the PR and the PL.

“There was much speculation about the supremacy that the Communist Party (PC) was going to have and in the end it ended up being a very broad cabinet in political terms and that reflects the Boric of the second round, not the one of the first round,” says Sajuria.

“The president-elect realized that he does not have majorities to govern,” he adds.

4. Independents and diversity

The president-elect also opted to integrate seven independent people to his cabinet.

Marcela Ríos, sociologist and former assistant representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is an example of that. The academic will be the next Minister of Justice.

In addition, it is a diverse cabinet, with people who belong to different Chilean social spheres.

For example, the next Minister of Education, Marco Avila, is a teacher who comes from public education, specifically from the commune of San Miguel, with high levels of poverty.

“The message is an acknowledgment that political balances have changed, that political parties are not the only space from which to operate,” says Sajuria.

The complete cabinet of Gabriel Boric:

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