A Cabinet Shuffle in Chile

Less than two years after taking office Chilean President Michele Bachelet finds herself reshuffling her cabinet for the third time. On January 8, she swore in six new cabinet members, replacing ministers of the interior, economy, mining, public works, agriculture, and planning.

Santiago Gonzalez, director of the National Mining Company, will oversee the mining ministry for the world’s biggest exporter and serve as chair of the state-owned Codelco. Perhaps most notable was Bachelet’s selection of Edmundo Perez Yoma for the interior minister post. During the tenure of former President Eduardo Frei Yoma served as defense minister during the 1990s and was widely credited for helping to heal relations between Chile’s military and civil society. 

The election of Bachelet, who was a political prisoner during the Pinochet regime and lost her father during the dictatorship, has also been seen as a reconciliatory act. “Whether Bachelet does or doesn’t do anything significant during her tenure as president, she did something hugely important, and hugely positive for Chile, just by being elected,” said Ariel Dorfman in a November 2007 New York Times Magazine profile of Bachelet. 

As the Economist notes, the first woman elected president in South America sought to break from past administrations and included few appointees and several independents with ministerial experience in her cabinet. However, the first woman elected president in South America has faced slipping approval ratings, partially in relation to a troubled public transit system in Santiago implemented in February 2007. While seeking to offset a loss of public support, Bachelet made cabinet changes in July 2006 and again in March 2007. The latest shuffle marks a shift in which Bachelet has chosen to appoint more experienced ministers, writes Chilean political scientist Patricio Navia in an analysis of the cabinet changes.

The cabinet change occurred at the same time as the resignation of five legislators from the Christian Democratic Party—the largest of the four parties in the governing coalition Concertación. A week earlier, Interior Minister Belisario Velasco resigned because he was rumored to have felt marginalized from the administration’s decision-making process. 

There are signs Bachelet is regaining some support, with her approval rating rising in December following a pact signed with opposition parties aimed at improving education. Yet, according to some reports, Bachelet will face the challenge of healing rifts within Concertación, particularly in the run-up to the 2009 presidential election.