Chile's Boric swaps out foreign minister amid cabinet reshuffle

Chile's President Gabriel Boric who has been struggling with low approval ratings since taking office one year ago announced a major cabinet reshuffle Friday, including the country's foreign minister. Alberto van Klaveren, who was Chile's ambassador to the European Union from 2001 to 2006 and served as the country's undersecretary of foreign affairs from 2006 to 2009 under former President Michelle Bachelet, will replace Antonia Urrejola as the country's minister of foreign affairs.

Chile's President Gabriel Boric who has been struggling with low approval ratings since taking office one year ago announced a major cabinet reshuffle Friday, including the country's foreign minister.

Alberto van Klaveren, who was Chile's ambassador to the European Union from 2001 to 2006 and served as the country's undersecretary of foreign affairs from 2006 to 2009 under former President Michelle Bachelet, will replace Antonia Urrejola as the country's minister of foreign affairs. Boric also named new ministers for the country's public works, culture, sports and science ministries and changed undersecretaries for several ministries including for finance, transportation and agriculture.

"We're entering our second year of government and after a conscious evaluation, I've decided to make changes to my cabinet," Boric said at a press conference from La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago on the eve of his first year in power. "What motivates me to make these changes aren't political pressures or minor wins, the goal of these changes is to improve our capacity to respond and improve to the challenges facing our country."

Boric's low approval ratings hit just 25% in late January before bouncing back to 35% in early March. Friday's cabinet reshuffling comes days after a tax reform package, key to Boric's ambitious agenda of expanding social rights, was shelved by Congress on Wednesday.

This is Boric's second major cabinet reshuffle, with the first coming after the a proposed progressive new constitution was widely rejected by voters last September. Boric made headlines when he initially announced his young, female-led cabinet last March, but a number of controversies and missteps have led the president to name more experienced and centrist politicians to his cabinet.

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