Chile’s president reshuffled his ministerial cabinets at the presidential palace on March 10. In the end, he appointed five new ministers. Four are independents, while one is aligned with the Socialist Party.
President Gabriel Boric designated five fresh officials. They are Alberto van Klaveren Stork as Minister of Foreign Affairs; Jessica López Saffie as Minister of Public Works; Jaime de Aguirre as Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage; Jaime Pizarro Herrera as Minister of Sport; and Aisén Etcheverry Escudero as Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation.
Presidente @GabrielBoric realiza #CambioDeGabinete ministerial en el Palacio de La Moneda. https://t.co/vRqBDitKo8
— Presidencia de Chile (@Presidencia_cl) March 10, 2023
Before this appointment, van Klaveren Stork served as the director of the academic unit for international legal and economic relations of the Institute of International Studies at the University of Chile. He was also Chile’s ambassador to the Europe Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg between 2001 and 2006. He is an independent.
Saffie was an engineer who has taken multiple leadership roles. She was the executive president of the National Association of Health Services Companies and the director of the Board of Directors at Itaú CorpBanca. She is closely aligned with the Socialist Party.
De Aguirre’s background is in law, journalism, and music with more than 30 years of experience in the communications field. In recent years, he had served as the executive director at Chilevisión and Televisión Nacional de Chile. During his stint at Chilevisión, he managed to bring the channel’s rating to the top. He is an independent.
Pizarro was a physical education teacher, football player, and coach. He has competed competitively as a teenager and as an adult at the regional and international level. He also has taken on several leadership roles in the private and public sectors. He is an independent.
Etcheverry was the director of the National Agency of Investigation and Development of Chile and director of the National Council of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation for Development. She is an independent.
This was Boric’s second change of cabinet in less than a year as president. The first took place in September 2022. Tomorrow, March 11, marks the first anniversary of Boric’s presidency.
Chongyang Zhang is pursuing an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s program in journalism, media and globalisation. His interest lies in the relations among the United States, Latin America and China. He is currently doing an exchange semester at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.