Event Summary
On 20 January 2026, the president-elect José Antonio Kast, elected in the second round with 58% of the vote, presented the full cabinet that will assume office collectively on 11 March 2026. During a presentation held at his office, known as “La Moneda Chica,” the president-elect announced the names of the 24 ministers who will make up his new government, 16 of whom are not members of his political party. Likewise, although the proposed cabinet does not reflect full gender parity, it includes 11 women and 13 men.
The elected government of the Republican Party, characterized as far-right, has demonstrated through the presentation of this new cabinet that it is seeking to prioritize technocratic profiles over political party affiliation. Framed under the narrative of forming an “emergency government,” Kast has drawn attention for adopting a technocratic approach in a cabinet that was expected to have a more overt political orientation. However, particular concern has been raised by the inclusion of Fernando Barros and Fernando Rabat, both of whom were part of the legal defense of former dictator Augusto Pinochet in the Riggs case, who have been appointed to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, respectively.
The new Chilean government has identified combating crime at all costs and recovering the national economy as its main priorities. This has led civil society organizations to question the potential impact of these policies on human rights and individual freedoms, both for Chilean citizens and for foreign residents living in the country.