Kast appoints two lawyers who defended Pinochet as Ministers of Defense and Justice for his Government in Chile

In Justice and Human Rights, Kast appointed Fernando Rabat academic from the Universidad del Desarrollo and who was part of the team that defended the general in different cases, including the so-called Caso Riggs, the scandal over his secret bank accounts in the United States.

In Defense, meanwhile, he will assume Fernando Barros, Founding partner of one of the largest law firms in Chile and who collaborated in Pinochet’s defense when he was arrested in London in 1998.

Kast, the first far-right president to come to power after the return of democracy, appointed a non-political cabinet, made up of 13 men and 11 womenthe vast majority without party militancy and coming from the business or academic sector.

“Chile needs determination, character, it needs a government that acts promptly. Therefore, today I present to you a cabinet to an emergency government, a team called to end the inertia and begin to recover Chile,” said Kast, 59 years old.

The former ultra-Catholic deputy reserved few ministries for members of his own party, the Republican Party, and for the traditional right-wing political formations that supported him in the December second round (UDI, Renovación Nacional and Evópoli), when he swept 58% of the votes.

Among the few positions that fell to the parties is that of Minister of the Interior and chief of staff, which will be occupied by the former UDI deputy. Claudio Alvarado.

In addition to the Interior, there was a lot of expectation to know who will occupy Security and Treasury, since Kast won with the promise of applying a tough hand against crime and irregular migration and of making a mega tax cut of 6 billion dollars in 18 months.

In Security, he appointed Trinidad Steinert, until today prosecutor of the border region of Tarapacá, while in the Treasury he placed Jorge Quiroz, the ultra-liberal economist who coordinated Kast’s economic proposals during his campaign and who was accused years ago in a case of price collusion in the poultry sector.

For Foreign Affairs, Kast chose a man who comes from business and not from the diplomatic world: Francisco Pérez Mackenna, general manager of Quiñenco, one of the firms of Andrónico Luksic, one of the great fortunes of Chile.

He also opted for a senior executive to jointly lead two ministries, Economy and Mining: the business leader Daniel Mas.

Another of the portfolios that he reserved for political parties is the General Secretariat of the Presidency (Segpres), which is in charge of relations with Parliament and where the former RN senator will take office. Jose Garcia.

The rest of the ministerial roster is made up of the presenter Mara Sedini (minister spokesperson), the sociologist Maria Jesus Wulf (Social Development), the architect Iván Poduje (Housing), the economist Tomás Rau (Work and Social Security), the economist María Paz Arzola (Education), the doctor May Chomalí (Health), former Mayor Martín Arrau (Public Works) and former Minister Catalina Parot (National Assets).

There will also be the evangelical teacher Judith Marín (Women and Gender Equality), the former minister and former deputy Jaime Campos (Agriculture), the former minister and former deputy Ximena Rincón (Energy), the former director of the Metro Luis de Grange (Transport and Telecommunications), the former presidential advisor Francisca Toledo (Environment), the former athlete Natalia Duco (Sports), the former deputy Francisco Undurraga (Culture) and the technological entrepreneur Ximena Lincolao (Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation).