MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chilean Energy minister sets record: resigns after three days on the job

President Sebastian Piñera did not make the right pick

Only three days after being appointed Minister of Energy, Fernando Echeverría handed in his letter of resignation to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera. He was replaced by former Treasury Undersecretary Rodrigo Álvarez, a lawyer and member of the UDI party.

Echeverría, who had been governor of Santiago until his appointment as energy minister, cited the reason behind his resignation as a personal decision. “I’ve been away from my companies too long”, he said, adding that there were no legal reasons for doing, so but that “certain decisions might possibly be misinterpreted as favouring the companies I have shares in.”

Echeverría’s construction company, Echeverría e Izquierdo Asociados, provides services to electricity companies Gener and Endesa.

“It is an act of complete honesty and transparency,” said recently-appointed government spokesperson Hernán Chadwick at the press conference held Friday at the La Moneda government palace to announce Echeverría’s departure.

The cabinet reshuffle, which saw former Minister of Education Joaquín Lavín as well as seven other members of Piñera’s staff abandon their posts or get reassigned to other ministries, was interpreted by critics as an effort to bolster the government’s sharply dwindling popularity in several recent public opinion polls.

Ena von Baer (former government spokesperson), Juan Andrés Fontaine (Economy) and Felipe Kast (Planning and Cooperation-Mideplan) were among those not considered for other government posts.

“This is the fourth minister to leave in 15 months,” said opposition Concertación alliance spokesperson Ignacio Walker, a Christian Democrat senator. “This is the new form of governing? It looks more like improvisation.”

“It’s a shame that one year and four months into this administration, we still have no energy policy to speak of,” said PDC Sen. Ximena Rincón.

Mario Desbordes, secretary general of Renovación Nacional, one of the parties in the governing Alianza coalition, attempted to explain the situation. “Fernando probably didn’t know at the moment about any incompatibilities,” he said.

“The extremely early departure of the new energy minister will be very costly for the Piñera government,” columnist and political science professor at Universidad Diego Portales, Patricio Navia, told Bloomberg.

“Since Echeverría left due to his conflicts of interests, there will be more controversy over the close ties between the Piñera government and the business elite.”

National columnist Carlos Peña also condemned Echeverría for accepting the position and then resigning just three days later, citing it as yet another example of conflicted interest and misplaced priorities among the Piñera cabinet team.

Echeverría had been the target of criticism since his designation as governor of Santiago in 2010 after refusing to sell his shares and only opted to resign as company director. According to his declaration of interests presented when he was appointed, he holds 46% of shares in the construction company and another 43% in the Montajes Industriales affiliate.

“This is something we should have foreseen and, thus, could have avoided,” said Chadwick. “Would it have been better to have all this information beforehand? Yes,” he was quoted as saying on Radio ADN. “But governing is a human act, not an act of divinity or infallible.”

Former Treasury Undersecretary Rodrigo Álvarez, a lawyer and member of the UDI party, was named to take on the ministerial post.

Following the swearing-in ceremony, Álvarez told press, “I have no conflicts of interest and we will carry out our tasks the best way possible.”

By Juanita Chacón-Snow – The Santiago Times