The New President of Chile Appointed a Majority-Female Cabinet

In January, the new president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, named a majority-female cabinet; 14 women and 10 men were named ministers. While former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet made a big change in the country’s political representation in 2006 when she formed a cabinet in which half of the members were female, Boric’s cabinet is the first with a majority of women. It is also the youngest cabinet in the history of Chile; seven members are in their 30s.

Among the newly appointed ministers is Camila Vallejo, who in 2011 was elected president of the University of Chile Student Federation and led massive student protests, which were the largest since the return of democracy in the country. In 2013, Vallejo was elected to represent La Florida, Chile, and served two parliamentary terms. She assiduously advocated for a quality public education in Chile during that time. Vallejo is now 33 years old and will serve as the minister general secretariat.

Also appointed was 35-year-old Izkia Siches, Chile’s medical union president. Siches was named the minister of interior and public security and will be the first woman to occupy this role in Chile. This role is notably the second most important in the government. Like Vallejo, Siches participated in student protests in 2011 while a student at the Medical School of Chile. She was elected president of the School of Medicine West Campus student center and an adviser to the University of Chile Student Federation. In 2017, she became the first woman (and youngest-ever) president of the Chilean Medical College, which supervises and regulates medical professionals in Chile.

Siches has been lauded for and has become a public figure due to her role in Chile’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As president of the medical college, Siches spoke on TV, radio, and social media to educate the public. In March 2020, Siches spoke personally with the president, Sebastián Piñera, and brought the leaders of all political parties to the same table to demand that they coordinate a national quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus. Chile eventually vaccinated more people than any other country in Latin America. Izkia Siches soon became the most popular woman in the country and one of the best-evaluated persons in Chilean surveys. Some political analysts believe that the support she gave to Gabriel Boric’s campaign was essential in securing his election.

Siches and Vallejo can count Maisa Rojas, who will lead the Ministry of Environment, among their colleagues. Rojas is a renowned climatologist, director of the Center for Climate and Resilience Research, and one of the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of 2021. She coordinated a scientific advisory committee for the COP25. Her priority is for the Chilean Congress to approve the Ley Marco de Cambio Climático, which has already been approved by the Senate and is now being analyzed by deputies. The goal of this law is to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century.

“I was called to a project that excites me, so perhaps I am seeing it very positively,” Rojas said in a recent interview.“I always believed that dialogue is what really helps us to solve our problems. And I’m very hopeful that we’ll actually make it.”

Rojas also talked about the new Chilean Constitution, which is still in progress but has been a process presided over by women, stating that the environment will be a “very present” topic in the Constitution, and that Chile must achieve carbon neutrality in dialogue with the communities that will be affected by the transition to different energy sources.

“All climate action that we take to face climate change must be just,” she said in the same interview. “So also the energetic transition must be just.”

The other female members of the cabinet include Maya Fernández Allende, the granddaughter of former president Salvador Allende, who was taken from power by a military coup; she will be the minister of defense. Antonia Urrejola, a lawyer, will serve as minister of foreign affairs; Jeanette Vega, a doctor, will be the new minister of social development and family; sociologist Marcela Ríos will be the minister of justice; Jeannette Jara will be the new labor minister; María Begoña Yarza, a surgeon, will be the new minister of health; Marcela Hernando will serve as minister of mining; Javiera Toro will serve as the minister of national assets; Julieta Brodsky will be in charge of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Patrimony; former soccer player Alexandra Benado will be the minister of sports; and Antonia Orellana will be the minister of women and gender equality.

Meanwhile, although Gabriel Boric is not officially married, Irina Karamanos, his partner, will take on and reformulate the role of the first lady of Chile. Karamanos is the national manager of the Feminist Front of the Social Convergence party, which is part of the Broad Front, of which Boric is also a member. Among the issues that she will seek to highlight are the rights of transgender Chileans and migrant children.

A new government cabinet that is majority women is not only a step in the right direction toward gender equality for Chile but will also undoubtedly impact decisions made across the government. President Gabriel Boric and his 24 ministers will start their term in March of this year, at which point we will all be able to more clearly see the path the government is going to follow, not only in relation to gender equality but also in terms of how these progressive women will work to transform Chile into a more just and sustainable country. For now, we can say that the hopes for a better future are high.