Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chile)

Alberto van Klaveren, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (Spanish: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling and informing the foreign policy formulated by the President of Chile. It is located in the Edificio José Miguel Carrera at Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square), in downtown Santiago.

The present minister of foreign affairs (who is also known colloquially as Chancellor) is Alberto van Klaveren.

History

The office was first organized in 1812, during the War of Independence, under the name of Foreign Affairs Secretariat. It was abolished in 1814, after the Battle of Rancagua, when the Spanish government was re-established.

In 1818, after independence, the secretariat was re-established, but this time as a dependency of the Ministry of the Interior, which at that time was named "Ministry of Government and Foreign Affairs" (1818–1824) or "Ministry of the Interior and Foreign Affairs" (1824–1871). In 1871 is established as a separate government entity.

Since its current creation in 1871, it has undergone different reorganizations, reflected in its different names:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Colonization 1871–1887
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship 1887–1896
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Worship and Colonization 1896–1924
Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1924–1929, and again since 1941
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commerce 1930–1941

Titulars

Ministers of foreign affairs and colonization

Name	Entered office	Exited office	Appointed by
Adolfo Ibáñez Gutiérrez	1871	1875	Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
Enrique Cood Ross	1875	1876	Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
José Alfonso Cavada	1876	1878	Aníbal Pinto
Alejandro Fierro Pérez	1878	1879
Domingo Santa María González	1879	1879
Miguel Luis Amunátegui Aldunate	1879	1880
Melquiades Valderrama Sáenz de la Peña	1880	1881
José Manuel Balmaceda Fernández	1881	1882	Domingo Santa María
Luis Aldunate Carrera	1882	1884
Aniceto Vergara Albano	1884	1885
Aníbal Zañartu Zañartu	1885	1886
Joaquín Godoy Cruz	1886	1886	José Manuel Balmaceda
Francisco Freire Caldera	1886	1887	José Manuel Balmaceda

Ministers of foreign affairs and worship

Name	Entered office	Exited office	Appointed by
Miguel Luis Amunátegui Aldunate	1887	1888	José Manuel Balmaceda
Augusto Matte Pérez	1888	1888
Marcial Demetrio Lastarria	1888	1889
Mariano Sánchez Fontecilla	1889	1889
Eduardo Matte Pérez	1889	1890
Juan Castellón Larenas	1890	1890
Juan Eduardo Mackenna Astorga	1890	1890
José Tocornal Jordán	1890	1891
Domingo Godoy Cruz	1891	1891
Ricardo Cruzat Hurtado	1891	1891
Manuel María Aldunate Solar	1891	29 August 1891
Manuel Antonio Matta Goyenechea	7 September 1891	26 December 1891	Revolutionary Junta of Iquique
Luis Pereira Cotapos	26 December 1891	1892	Jorge Montt
Juan Castellón Larenas	1892	1892
Isidoro Errázuriz Errázuriz	1892	1893
Ventura Blanco Viel	1893	1894
Mariano Sánchez Fontecilla	1894	1894
Luis Barros Borgoño	1894	1895
Claudio Matte Pérez	1895	1895
Adolfo Guerrero Vergara	1895	18 September 1896

Ministers of foreign affairs, worship and colonization

Name	Entered office	Exited office	Notes	Appointed by
Enrique de Putrón Cavareda	18 September 1896	1896		Federico Errázuriz Echaurren
Carlos Morla Vicuña	1896	1897
Raimundo Silva Cruz	1897	1898
Juan José Latorre Benavente	1898	1898
Ventura Blanco Viel	1898	1899
Federico Puga Borne	1899	1899
Rafael Valentín Errázuriz Urmeneta	1899	1899
Manuel Salinas González	1899	1900
Emilio Bello Codecido	1900	1900
Raimundo Silva Cruz	1900	1901
Luis Martiniano Rodríguez Herrera	1901	18 September 1901	Appointed by
Luis Martiniano Rodríguez Herrera	1901	18 September 1901	Reappointed by	Aníbal Zañartu
Eliodoro Yáñez Ponce de León	18 September 1901	1902		Germán Riesco
Horacio Pinto Agüero	1902	1902
José Francisco Vergara Donoso	5 May 1902	1903
Máximo Del Campo Yávar	1903	1903
Agustín Edwards Mac Clure	1903	1903
Rafael Sotomayor Gaete	1903	1904
Emilio Bello Codecido	1904	1904
Adolfo Guerrero Vergara	1904	1904
Raimundo Silva Cruz	1904	1904
Luis Antonio Vergara Ruíz	1904	1905
Agustín Edwards Mac Clure	1905	1905
Federico Puga Borne	1905	1906
Santiago Aldunate Bascuñán	1906	1906
Antonio Huneeus Gana	1906	18 September 1906
Ricardo Salas Edwards	18 September 1906	1907		Pedro Montt
Federico Puga Borne	1907	1908
José Rafael Balmaceda Fernández	1908	1909
Agustín Edwards Mac Clure	1909	1910
Luis Izquierdo Fredes	1910	23 December 1910
Rafael Orrego González	23 December 1910	1911		Ramón Barros Luco
Enrique Rodríguez Carmona	1911	1912
Joaquín Figueroa Larraín	1912	1912
Antonio Huneeus Gana	1912	1912
Renato Sánchez García de la Huerta	1912	1913
Enrique Villegas Echiburú	1913	1914
Alejandro Lira Lira	1914	1914
Manuel Salinas González	1914	1915
Rafael Orrego Gónzalez	1915	23 December 1915
Ramón Subercaseaux Vicuña	23 December 1915	27 April 1916		Juan Luis Sanfuentes
Silvestre Ochagavía Echaurren	27 April 1916	1 July 1916
Juan Enrique Tocornal Doursther	1 July 1916	20 November 1916
Alamiro Huidobro Valdés	20 November 1916	14 July 1917
Arturo Besa Navarro	14 July 1917	13 October 1917
Eduardo Suárez Mujica	13 October 1917	18 January 1918
Guillermo Pereira Iñiguez	18 January 1918	22 April 1918
Daniel Feliú Manterola	22 April 1918	6 September 1918
Ruperto Bahamonde Rivera	6 September 1918	28 November 1918
Luis Barros Borgoño	28 November 1918	8 November 1919
Alamiro Huidobro Valdés	8 November 1919	29 March 1920
Antonio Huneeus Gana	29 March 1920	1 July 1920
Luis Aldunate Echeverría	1 July 1920	23 December 1920
Jorge Matte Gormaz	23 December 1920	1921		Arturo Alessandri
Ernesto Barros Jarpa	1921	1922
Samuel Claro Lastarria	1922	16 October 1922
Carlos Aldunate Solar	16 October 1922	21 December 1922
Luis Izquierdo Fredes	21 December 1922	1923
Pedro Rivas Vicuña	1923	1923
Emilio Bello Codecido	1923	1923
Armando Jaramillo Valderrama	1923	1924
Roberto Sánchez García de la Huerta	1924	14 March 1924
Galvarino Gallardo Nieto	14 March 1924	20 July 1924
Ramón Briones Luco	20 July 1924	1924
Emilio Bello Codecido	1924	12 September 1924

Ministers of foreign affairs (first creation)

Name	Entered office	Exited office	Appointed by
Carlos Aldunate Solar	12 September 1924	23 January 1925	September Junta
Jorge Matte Gormaz	29 January 1925	13 October 1925	January Junta
Ernesto Barros Jarpa	13 October 1925	23 December 1925	Luis Barros Borgoño
Beltrán Mathieu Andrews	23 December 1925	2 August 1926	Emiliano Figueroa
Antonio Huneeus Gana	2 August 1926	20 November 1926
Jorge Matte Gormaz	20 November 1926	22 February 1927
Conrado Ríos Gallardo	22 February 1927	3 September 1929

Ministers of foreign affairs and commerce

Name	Entered office	Exited office	Notes	Appointed by
Manuel Barros Castañón	3 September 1929	27 April 1931		Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
Antonio Planet Cordero	27 April 1931	13 July 1931
Carlos Aldunate Errázuriz	13 July 1931	22 July 1931
Guillermo Edwards Matte	22 July 1931	23 July 1931
Alberto Edwards Vives	23 July 1931	26 July 1931
Carlos Balmaceda Saavedra	26 July 1931	3 September 1931	Appointed by	Pedro Opazo
			Reappointed by	Juan Esteban Montero
			Reappointed by	Manuel Trucco
Luis Izquierdo Fredes	3 September 1931	15 November 1931		Manuel Trucco
Carlos Balmaceda Saavedra	15 November 1931	5 June 1932		Juan Esteban Montero
Luis Barriga Errázuriz	5 June 1932	3 October 1932	Appointed by	Socialist Junta
			Reappointed by	Carlos Dávila
			Reappointed by	Bartolomé Blanche
Jorge Matte Gormaz	3 October 1932	24 December 1932		Abraham Oyanedel
Miguel Cruchaga Tocornal	24 December 1932	14 February 1937		Arturo Alessandri
Gustavo Ross Santa María	14 February 1937	24 March 1937
José Ramón Gutiérrez Allende	24 March 1937	15 September 1938
Luis Arteaga García	15 September 1938	24 December 1938
Abraham Ortega Aguayo	24 December 1938	8 February 1940		Pedro Aguirre Cerda
Cristóbal Sáenz Cerda	8 February 1940	30 July 1940
Marcial Mora Miranda	30 July 1940	7 November 1940
Manuel Bianchi Gundián	7 November 1940	26 March 1941
Luis Alamos Barros	26 March 1941	10 June 1941
Juan Bautista Rossetti Colombino	10 June 1941	2 April 1942

Ministers of foreign affairs (second creation)

Name	Entered office	Exited office	Appointed by
Ernesto Barros Jarpa	2 April 1942	21 October 1942	Juan Antonio Ríos
Joaquín Fernández y Fernández	21 October 1942	3 November 1946	Juan Antonio Ríos
Raúl Juliet Gomez	3 November 1946	2 August 1947	Gabriel González Videla
Germán Vergara Donoso	2 August 1947	6 July 1948
Germán Ignacio Riesco Errázuriz	7 July 1948	27 February 1950
Horacio Walker Larraín	27 February 1950	19 June 1951
Eduardo Irarrázabal Concha	19 June 1951	29 July 1952
Fernando García Oldini	29 July 1952	3 November 1952
Arturo Olavarría Bravo	3 November 1952	1952	Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
Oscar Fenner Marín	1953	1954
Roberto Aldunate León	1954	15 January 1954
Tobías Barros Ortiz	15 January 1954	6 January 1955
Osvaldo Koch Krefft	6 January 1955	30 May 1955
Kaare Olsen Nielsen	30 May 1955	2 January 1956
José Serrano Palma	2 January 1956	4 January 1956
Enrique Barbosa Baeza	4 January 1956	24 May 1956
Osvaldo Sainte Marie Sorucco	24 May 1956	28 October 1957
Alberto Sepúlveda Contreras	28 October 1957	3 November 1958
Germán Vergara Donoso	3 November 1958	26 August 1961	Jorge Alessandri
Carlos Martinez Sotomayor	26 August 1961	17 December 1963
Julio Philippi Izquierdo	17 December 1963	3 November 1964
Gabriel Valdés Subercaseaux	3 November 1964	3 November 1970	Eduardo Frei Montalva
Clodomiro Almeyda Medina	3 November 1970	5 July 1973	Salvador Allende
Orlando Letelier del Solar	5 July 1973	8 August 1973
Clodomiro Almeyda Medina	8 August 1973	11 September 1973
Ismael Huerta Díaz	12 September 1973	3 July 1974	Augusto Pinochet
Patricio Carvajal Prado	3 July 1974	20 April 1978
Hernán Cubillos Sallato	20 April 1978	20 March 1980
René Rojas Galdames	20 March 1980	14 February 1983
Miguel Schweitzer Walters	15 February 1983	19 December 1983
Jaime Del Valle Alliende	19 December 1983	7 July 1987
Ricardo García Rodríguez	8 July 1987	21 October 1988
Hernán Felipe Errázuriz Correa	22 October 1988	11 March 1990
Enrique Silva Cimma	11 March 1990	11 March 1994	Patricio Aylwin
Carlos Figueroa Serrano	11 March 1994	20 September 1994	Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
José Miguel Insulza Salinas	20 September 1994	21 June 1999
Juan Gabriel Valdés Soublette	22 June 1999	11 March 2000
María Soledad Alvear Valenzuela	11 March 2000	1 October 2004	Ricardo Lagos
Ignacio Walker Prieto	1 October 2004	11 March 2006	Ricardo Lagos
Alejandro Foxley Rioseco	11 March 2006	12 March 2009	Michelle Bachelet
Mariano Fernández Amunátegui	12 March 2009	11 March 2010	Michelle Bachelet
Alfredo Moreno Charme	11 March 2010	11 March 2014	Sebastián Piñera
Heraldo Muñoz	11 March 2014	11 March 2018	Michelle Bachelet
Roberto Ampuero	11 March 2018	13 June 2019	Sebastián Piñera
Teodoro Ribera	13 June 2019	28 July 2020
Andrés Allamand	28 July 2020	6 February 2022
Antonia Urrejola	11 March 2022	10 March 2023	Gabriel Boric
Alberto van Klaveren	10 March 2023	Incumbent	Gabriel Boric

Additional information

Sources

República de Chile (1942). "VI. Poder Ejecutivo – Nómina de Gobernantes, Presidentes y Ministros desde la Independencia.". Manual del Senado. 1810–1942 (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Universitaria. (in Spanish)
Valencia Avaria, Luis (1986). Anales de la República: textos constitucionales de Chile y registro de los ciudadanos que han integrado los poderes ejecutivo y legislativo desde 1810 (in Spanish) (2ª edición ed.). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Andrés Bello. (in Spanish)
Official list of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Chile with appointment dates (in Spanish)

External links

Official Website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (in Spanish)