Chile Loses Three Regional Secretaries in One Day as Kast Government Exits Reach 52
POLITICS · CHILE
Key Facts
- —The country Chile, governed by President José Antonio Kast since 11 March 2026. Each ministry names a regional secretary, or seremi, in every one of the 16 regions.
- —What happened Three seremis resigned on Wednesday 30 September: two in the Santiago Metropolitan Region and one in O’Higgins. La Tercera and Meganoticias put total government exits at 52.
- —Who is involved Sebastián Norambuena (housing, Santiago region), Kattia Durán (social development, Santiago region) and Juan Carlos Meléndez (economy, O’Higgins).
- —What it means for you Acting heads took over in Santiago and a permanent economy secretary starts in O’Higgins on 1 October. The ministries say regional programmes continue.
- —Still open Outlets differ on the seremi share of the 52, citing 41 or 42. The government publishes no official count, and its performance review is ongoing.
Three Chilean seremis resign in a single day. The count of officials who have left President José Antonio Kast’s government now stands at 52. All three exits came on Wednesday 30 September, La Tercera and Meganoticias reported.
A seremi, short for secretario regional ministerial, is a ministry’s senior representative in one of Chile’s 16 regions. The latest departures continue a pattern this site tracked in Chile Kast Government Resignations Reach 48 After Coquimbo Exit.
Two exits in Santiago before noon
The first to go was Sebastián Norambuena, housing secretary for the Santiago Metropolitan Region. His resignation took effect on 30 September, and Mauricio Bottner, head of the office’s legal section, is acting in his place.
Accounts of his exit differ. La Tercera cited the housing ministry calling it voluntary. El Mostrador reported that Housing Minister Iván Poduje requested it over lost confidence and missed targets.
Hours later Kattia Durán, social development secretary for the same region, also stepped down. The Ministry of Social Development said she left exclusively for family reasons, effective 1 October.
Julia Standen Rocco, coordinator of the ministry’s studies and investment area, will act in the post until a successor is named. El Mostrador said those two exits brought the total to 51.
A third resignation in O’Higgins
In the afternoon the Ministry of Economy announced that Juan Carlos Meléndez Santelices, its secretary in the O’Higgins Region, had resigned with immediate effect. The ministry gave no reason for his departure.
Unlike the Santiago posts, this one was filled at once. Sebastián Vargas Ibaceta, an agronomist with a master’s degree in farm business administration, takes office on Thursday 1 October.
How the count of 52 is built
The government does not publish a running tally, so the figure comes from Chilean newsrooms. El Mostrador’s breakdown at 51 listed three ministers, six undersecretaries, one provincial delegate and 41 seremis.
La Tercera put regional departures at 42 after the O’Higgins exit. On 1 October it said 42 of the 52 were seremis. Meganoticias, by contrast, said 41 of the 52 were seremis, so the split depends on the outlet.
The pace has quickened. On 14 September this site counted the 36th seremi to leave, in Chile Loses 36th Regional Secretary in Six Months. By midday Wednesday, El Mostrador counted seven September departures, all of them seremis.
Why the seremis resign now
La Tercera linked the changes to a reorganisation of several ministries. It also pointed to a performance review that Kast is conducting from La Moneda, the presidential palace.
Seen that way, the seremis resign as part of a managed reshuffle rather than a collapse. The risk is continuity: regional programmes in housing and social support now run under acting heads in Chile’s largest region.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is not known who will permanently replace Norambuena and Durán, or when. Neither ministry had named successors by Thursday 1 October.
La Moneda officials told La Tercera on 1 October that the review covers seremis and presidential delegates. They said further adjustments would follow if needed, without naming posts. Without an official count, the exact seremi share of the 52 also remains unconfirmed.
Sources: La Tercera (30 Sep 2026); La Tercera (30 Sep 2026); El Mostrador (30 Sep 2026); Meganoticias (30 Sep 2026); La Tercera (1 Oct 2026).
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