BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th July, 2020) Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced on Tuesday a cabinet reshuffle in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, replacing key ministers for the second time in nine months.
Apart from the two major reshuffles, Pinera replaced the head of the country's Health Ministry amid a growing number of coronavirus-related fatalities in Chile, appointing Oscar Enrique Paris as new minister.
"Our first commitment is to protect the health and lives of our citizens, and to support and help families in need. To face these challenges, I made these changes in the government," Pinera told reporters, as broadcast by the presidential office on Twitter.
In particular, ex-senator Victor Perez was appointed as Chile's new interior minister instead of the outgoing Gonzalo Blumel, former senator Andres Allamand Zavala as new foreign minister, Mario Desbordes as new defense minister, Jaime Bellolioas as new secretary general of the government instead of Karla Rubilar Barahona, who will head the Ministry of Social Development. Cristian Monckeberg, who previously served as minister of social development, will become the new secretary general of the presidential office.
The new ministers and the government as a whole are set to effectively fight the pandemic, strengthen social protection of the population, restore the economy and jobs, improve the pension system, and support small businesses, among other things, according to the Chilean leader.
