CHILE · BUDGET
Chile’s lower house voted down the spending plans of three ministries on Thursday 12 November 2026, during the 2027 budget debate in President José Antonio Kast’s government. The sections that failed cover Mining, the Government General Secretariat (Segegob), which runs state communications, and Women and Gender Equity.
For US readers the Mining vote is the one to watch, because Chile is the world’s top copper producer and its state miner Codelco was at the centre of the debate. According to the vote tracker, rejected sections go on to the Senate.
Key Facts
- What Chile’s lower house voted down the Mining, Women and Segegob (government communications) ministry budgets on Thursday 12 November 2026.
- Votes Mining tied 59 to 59; Segegob drew 54 and 44 votes on the two sides, with 19 abstentions; Women got 58 yes, 59 no.
- Tally Interior and Education fell earlier; five of the first 27 sections voted had failed by 02:08 on Friday.
- Why Deputies cited Codelco and mining oversight, a 40%-plus rise in communications spending, and budget adjustments for Women.
- Next The Senate takes up the rejected sections; seven sections were still to be voted at 02:08 on Friday.
- Power Index Chile ranks 3rd of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 62.9 points (November 2026 edition).
What the Chamber Voted
The Chamber of Deputies is voting the 2027 budget one ministry section at a time, in a marathon session that ran past midnight into Friday 13 November. By 02:08 Chile time, 27 of 34 sections had been voted, 22 approved and five rejected, the Chilean daily Emol reported (Emol, 13 November 2026).
Mining failed on a 59 to 59 tie. The Government Secretariat was rejected, with 54 votes on one side, 44 on the other and 19 abstentions, and Women and Gender Equity on 58 votes in favour to 59 against.
Interior and Education had been rejected on earlier days of the session, Emol said. A civic budget tracker, PresupuestoKast.cl, which logs each vote from the Chamber’s record, showed the same five failures and also listed Culture as rejected by early Friday (PresupuestoKast.cl, checked 13 November 2026).
What Drove the Mining Debate
The Mining debate was marked by worry over how Codelco is run and over the possibility of opening the state company to private capital in the long run, La Tercera, a Santiago daily, reported (La Tercera, 13 November 2026). Lawmakers from several parties argued that selling part of Codelco would give up resources vital for future generations, and they questioned cuts to Sernageomin, the national geology and mining service that polices mine safety.
The government’s plan trims the ministry’s budget by 0.4% in real terms, La Tercera said. Socialist Deputy José Antonio Rivas, a member of the lower house’s Mining and Energy Committee, voted no, calling it “absurd that, in the middle of a copper crisis, the government cuts resources for Sernageomin and Cochilco”, the Chilean Copper Commission, according to La Tercera.
In Plain English
A “partida” is one ministry’s section of the budget bill. Codelco is Chile’s state-owned copper company, and the Segegob is the ministry that acts as the government’s spokesperson and runs its communications.
Why the Government Secretariat Lost
Segegob’s section would have raised money for its communications unit by roughly 40% to 45%, depending on the report, CNN Chile and BioBioChile said (CNN Chile, 13 November 2026, BioBioChile, 13 November 2026). Deputies from the libertarian National Libertarian Party and from Kast’s own Republican Party said the ministry is unnecessary, and the left-wing Broad Front and Communist Party said the government had used the money badly, according to BioBioChile.
The government replied that the spending is lower than in recent years and that Kast has convened a cross-party commission on a new design for the state.
What It Means for You
This is budget politics rather than a spending cut already in force. The rejected sections now go to the Senate, so the 2027 spending plan is not final.
Ties of 71 to 71 on Interior and 59 to 59 on Mining show a chamber split almost evenly on spending lines.
What Is Not Known
It is not yet known how the Senate will treat the rejected sections, or whether the government will file new proposals. Reports also differ on abstentions in the Mining vote (none in the tracker, eight in Emol), on the size of the Segegob increase (about 40% or 45%), and sources disagree on which side held the 54 votes in the Segegob count, so we do not state it.
Related reading: Chile’s Lower House Backs 2027 Budget Plan, Chile Weighs Governance Reform at Codelco and Chile Says US$10 Billion at Codelco Was Poor. More in our Chile news coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Chilean budget sections did the lower house reject?
On Thursday 12 November 2026 deputies rejected Mining, the Government General Secretariat and Women and Gender Equity. Interior and Education had already been rejected earlier in the session.
What does a rejected section mean?
The section goes to the Senate for its own decision. The 2027 budget bill itself is not dead.
Why was Mining rejected?
The vote tied 59 to 59, which was not enough to pass, after a debate on Codelco’s management and cuts to the mining safety regulator Sernageomin.
What happens next?
At 02:08 on Friday the Chamber still had seven sections to vote, and then the bill moves to the Senate.
Sources: Emol, 13 November 2026; La Tercera, 13 November 2026; CNN Chile, 13 November 2026; BioBioChile, 13 November 2026; PresupuestoKast.cl vote tracker, 13 November 2026. The Chamber of Deputies’ own site (camara.cl) was unreachable from our servers.
In depth
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error