Brazil & Southern Cone - June 2026

President José Antonio Kast has carried out a mini cabinet reshuffle just over two months into his term, replacing the security minister Trinidad Steinert with the public works minister Martín Arrau. This comes amid declining approval ratings and criticism over the government’s apparent lack of a concrete strategy to address crime, which had been a key pillar of Kast’s election campaign rhetoric last year [SSR-26-01].

Kast has not had an easy start to his term, with his popularity sinking in the two months since his inauguration on 11 March. National pollster Cadem released figures on 17 May showing that his approval had dropped from 57% in mid-March down to 36% in mid-May. When asked what Kast’s main campaign promise had been, 44% of respondents said it was tackling insecurity while 30% said it was irregular migration. When asked if they believed the government had a concrete security plan, only 36% said they agreed while 64% disagreed.

In the mid-May poll, more than half of survey respondents (57%) expressed approval for Kast’s main migration initiative, the ‘Plan Escudo Fronterizo’ (Border Shield Plan) to bolster border security infrastructure, launched shortly after his inauguration in mid-March. But despite Kast’s rhetoric on the campaign trail seeking to associate immigration with criminality, it appears that digging ditches and setting up fences along the northern borders is not enough to convince the public that he has a plan to reduce crime rates.

The initial appointment of an experienced prosecutor such as Steinert, who has spent years handling cases involving violent crimes and criminal gangs such as Tren de Aragua, was supposed to send a signal that Kast’s government would respect technocratic credentials and come up with security strategies backed by experts. However, Steinert’s lack of political experience seems to have worked against her.

On 15 May, after speaking in a session in congress about the government’s security policies, Steinert gave an interview to local broadcaster Radio Agricultura in which she said she was not expecting this level of scrutiny. In particular she said: “There are many aspects [to the job] that have been… more complex [than expected]… for example, this demand that I did not expect, the demand to have a concrete, structured security plan”.

In the following days, members of left-wing opposition parties such as Frente Amplio (FA) and the Partido Socialista (PS) seized on the opportunity to criticise Steinert, with the FA’s president Constanza Martínez highlighting that the Kast government won the election declaring security as a priority area and yet it had still failed to produce a security plan. Meanwhile, speaking on broadcast network Radio Cooperativa on 19 May, the president of the Partido Comunista de Chile (PCCh), Lautaro Carmona, accused Steinert of “arrogance”, given the complacency of not having come up with a security plan or delivering on the job expected of her.

These comments from opposition figures came before Kast announced on 19 May that he would replace Steinert, a move which the public appears to agree with, according to Cadem figures. The pollster carried out a survey on 20 May which showed that 87% respondents approved of Kast’s decision to enact a reshuffle. Aside from Steinert, Kast also replaced his spokesperson, Mara Sedini. Kast is likely hoping that new ministers with better public communications skills might help stem the decline of his approval ratings.

Cabinet changes

On 19 May Steinert was replaced by Arrau, while Arrau’s role of public works minister was filled by Louis de Grange, who will carry out this role alongside his current responsibilities as the minister for transport and communications. Kast’s spokesperson, Sedini, was replaced by Claudio Alvarado, who currently serves as interior minister and will serve as government spokesperson alongside this role.