Brazil & Southern Cone - February 2026

Given that President-elect José Antonio Kast’s election campaign last year featured tough rhetoric promising a crackdown on irregular migration and transnational crime, the position of security minister is expected to be one of the most important roles in his government. Charged with this responsibility is public prosecutor Trinidad Steinert. Having served as a the regional prosecutor of the northern region of Tarapacá from 2024-2026, she has experience in cases involving members of the Venezuelan criminal organisation Tren de Aragua, which is particularly active in the region. 

On 20 January Kast announced who will serve in his new government, which will take office on 11 March. Despite running in last year’s election as a member of the far-right Partido Republicano (PR), he has since renounced his party affiliation, in an effort to signal a moderate and pragmatic stance and involve other parties in his coalition government. The ministerial appointments he announced were not only from the PR, but also from parties of the traditional right-wing establishment and even politicians who had served in previous left-of-centre governments.

• Parties in cabinet

Although 16 of Kast’s 24 cabinet picks are independents, the other eight seats are spread between seven different parties. The Partido Republicano (PR) has two ministries, the PR’s Martín Arrau will serve as public works minister and María Jesús Wulf as social development and family minister. The other parties that will hold seats are centre-right and right-wing parties such as the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI), Renovación Nacional (RN), Evópoli, and Demócratas; the far-right Partido Social Cristiano (PSC); as well as the centre-left Partido Radical de Chile. Jaime Campos, of the Partido Radical, will be Kast’s agriculture minister, reprising a role he held in the government of former president Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006). Ximena Rincón, of Demócratas, who held various posts in the second term of former president Michelle Bachelet (2014-2018) is the incoming energy minister.

It is notable that most of his cabinet picks are not affiliated with any party, signalling a prioritisation of professional, technocratic competence over party political considerations. Of the 24 ministers he announced, 16 were independents, including Steinert. The appointment of Steinert as the incoming security minister was welcomed by members of the outgoing left-wing administration led by President Gabriel Boric. On 27 January, in an interview with local radio network Radio Infinita, the current security minister, Luis Cordero, said that he had “the best personal and professional opinion” of Steinert, adding that “she has always acted with impartiality and objectivity”.

Regarding the public perception of the new minister, national pollster Cadem released the results of a survey on 25 January which showed that Steinert was not a well-known figure. Nevertheless, she registered high approval among the survey respondents who had heard of her. Only 32% of survey respondents said they had heard of Steinert, which is just below the 37% average for the cabinet as a whole. However, 72% of respondents said they had a positive image of Steinert, well above the average for the incoming cabinet of 56%.

Steinert was also regarded by the Cadem survey respondents as the minister who could be the most important or influential in government, with 27% of respondents naming her as one of those who they thought would be the most important or influential, followed by the incoming finance minister Jorge Quiroz, and interior minister, Claudio Alvarado, both with 22%. This suggests that security could be one of the defining policy areas that will determine whether the Kast administration is a success or failure. 

According to an article published by Chilean political magazine The Clinic, Steinert was not Kast’s first choice to lead the security ministry, but she could turn out to be a strong backup choice to signal to voters that the Kast administration is going to take the fight against organised crime seriously. Media reports in mid-January suggested that Kast was considering several options for the role, the leading option of whom was Rodolfo Carter, the former mayor of La Florida commune (2011-2024), in the Santiago metropolitan region, who gained a reputation as a security hardliner and a staunch critic of the Boric government. Carter used to be a member of the right-wing Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) but is now an independent and won a seat in the senate in the November 2025 congressional elections.

Carter built his tough-on-crime reputation in the capital, while Steinert also has experience prosecuting crimes in Santiago, meaning she has the potential to appeal to the public in both the Santiago metropolitan region as well as in the north of the country. From 2005-2021, she worked as deputy prosecutor for the southern part of the metropolitan region, specialising in violent crimes and theft. In 2024, she became the regional prosecutor for Tarapacá, which is on the border with Bolivia. In this role, Steinert led the prosecution in criminal proceedings against the Tren de Aragua in Chile, resulting in the conviction in July last year of 12 leading gang members.

There is little doubt among political pundits that Steinert is comfortable overseeing the ecosystem of different law enforcement and criminal justice institutions. However, given her lack of political background, it remains uncertain how well she will be able to communicate policy decisions to the public and frame the narrative around security. Steinert will likely leverage her career background to portray herself as an anti-gang crusader, but having knowledge and expertise on organised crime is one thing, and shaping public perception of crime and insecurity is another. It remains to be seen how well she can communicate a tough-on-crime narrative that resonates broadly and convinces the public that the government is addressing its concerns.

Pinochet links

Fernando Rabat, a lawyer who defended Chile’s former dictator General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) in various cases, will serve as the minister for justice and human rights. The incoming defence minister, Fernando Barros, is also a lawyer who collaborated in the defence of Pinochet.

Central America tour

Amid President-elect Kast’s efforts to boost his credentials as a security hardliner, he met with leaders in Central America who have expressed similarly tough stances on issues such as crime and migration. On 24 January he met with the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, and the following day he travelled with Abinader to see a wall the Dominican government is building along the border with Haiti. On 30 January Kast travelled to El Salvador alongside Steinert to tour the mega prison Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (Cecot), built by the right-wing administration of President Nayib Bukele, an extreme security hardliner.