Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz faced two public breaks with his positions from his own cabinet colleagues this Wednesday, according to La Tercera. Energy Minister Ximena Rincón and Minister of Economy and Mining Daniel Mas distanced themselves from his remarks about kerosene and a supposed "mining recession".
The first was Mas, in an interview with radio Infinita. A month ago, Quiroz said that "we are experiencing a major mining recession", an idea he has repeated on other occasions. He based this on the Monthly Economic Activity Index (Imacec), the indicator that measures how much the economy produces each month, which showed a 9.3% decline in mining activity.
"It is indeed a term the minister used; we believe this is a one-off production shock," Mas replied. The difference matters: a recession suggests a prolonged deterioration, while a shock points to a limited hit. The minister said it was "triggered by various factors" and would gradually reverse over the medium term.
Almost an hour later, Rincón, a former senator from the Demócratas party, spoke on radio Agricultura. She was asked about kerosene, whose price rose in late September after the government decided against maintaining the fixed price. The measure drew criticism from the opposition and forced Quiroz to explain the increase.
On that occasion, the finance minister said: "Nobody uses kerosene today, because with these temperatures, the truth is that consumption is minimal." He was referring to the arrival of spring.
Rincón corrected him. "People use kerosene; they still use it," she said. She acknowledged that total consumption falls at this time of year, but noted that several areas remain very cold and even Santiago "has been extremely cold these past few days". If you heat your home with a kerosene heater, the increase still affects you even if the calendar says it is spring.
Although she considered the controversy over, the minister was direct: "It is not a phrase that helps us in our current circumstances." The report does not specify how much the fuel price rose.
At La Moneda, officials are playing down these differences, but they did not go unnoticed among the governing parties. This is not the first time. In September, Labor Minister Tomás Rau distanced himself from the unemployment target Quiroz had set, of around 6.5% by the end of the administration. "It is a target imposed by the finance minister," Rau said at the time.
Quiroz replied that he was maintaining the target and wanted to "bring the country back to 6% unemployment". That exchange ended with intervention from the minister of the interior and the General Secretariat of Government (Segegob), Claudio Alvarado, and President José Antonio Kast.
Following that episode, lawmakers from the governing coalition called for better cabinet coordination and the appointment of a dedicated spokesperson. According to La Tercera, those demands remain in place, and members of the coalition are calling for a minister dedicated solely to Segegob once again.
