Chile Loses Three Regional Secretaries in One Day as Kast Government Exits Reach 52

On 30 September, three senior regional officials resigned from President José Antonio Kast's Chilean government, marking the 52nd departure from the administration, according to La Tercera and Meganoticias. These officials are collectively known as seremis.

Sebastián Norambuena, the housing secretary for Santiago Metropolitan Region, resigned first, with his departure taking effect on the same day. The nature of his resignation is unclear, with sources citing either voluntary resignation or a request for his exit due to low confidence and missed targets.

Hours later, Kattia Durán, the social development secretary for the same region, also stepped down, citing family reasons for her departure, effective from 1 October.

Later on the same day, Juan Carlos Meléndez Santelices, the secretary in the O'Higgins Region, announced his resignation with immediate effect, though the reason for his departure was not specified by the Ministry of Economy.

These resignations continue a trend of senior officials leaving Kast's administration. The total number of departures has fluctuated across different news outlets, with some counting more seremis and others including undersecretaries and provincial delegates in the total. The pace of these resignations has increased recently, with seven departures recorded in September alone.

The government does not publish a running tally of resignations, relying instead on reports from Chilean newsrooms. The exact outcomes for the ousted officials and the timeline for their replacements remain uncertain.