Kast on the Defensive

CHILE - In Brief 20 May 2026 by Robert Funk

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President José Antonio Kast entered office two months ago with a very clear remit: restore security and regain control of migration. He promised that after years of political volatility, Chile would get order. Perhaps even become boring. Yesterday’s departure of Security Minister Trinidad Steinert and government spokesperson Mara Sedini after just 69 days in office marks the earliest cabinet shuffle since the return to democracy. It suggests that before the government can bring order to the country, it needs to find a way to bring order to itself. Now Martín Arrau, who had been in Public Works, moves into Security, while Claudio Alvarado becomes both Interior Minister and spokesperson. Louis de Grange takes on Public Works together with his current job as Minister of Transportation. This “bi-minister” arrangement reduces the cabinet from 24 to 22 posts. President Kast must be aware that security is not just one portfolio among many – it was the defining issue of Kast’s campaign and remains the political foundation of his presidency. But Steinert’s position was untenable. She suffered repeated communication problems, controversies over personnel decisions, questions over strategic planning, and criticism that the government lacked a coherent security roadmap. The former minister admitted as much in a radio interview last Friday, when she admitted that she had no idea that when appearing before a Senate committee a few days earlier, they would ask her for a “structured, concrete plan” to confront security. This was the last straw. Yet focusing only on Steinert misses the larger problem. A government that was elected to improve the country’s security situation appears to ...