Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chile)

Alberto van Klaveren, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs

Logo of the Ministry 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

Picture	Name	Entered office	Exited office	Notes	Appointed by
	Adolfo Ibáñez Gutiérrez	1871	1875		Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
	Enrique Cood Ross	1875	1876
	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

Ministers of foreign affairs and worship

Picture	Name	Entered office	Exited office	Notes	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

Picture	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
				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)

Picture	Name	Entered office	Exited office	Notes	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

Picture	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
	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)

Picture	Name	Entered office	Exited office	Notes	Appointed by
	Ernesto Barros Jarpa	2 April 1942	21 October 1942		Juan Antonio Ríos
	Joaquín Fernández y Fernández	21 October 1942	3 November 1946
	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
	Alejandro Foxley Rioseco	11 March 2006	12 March 2009		Michelle Bachelet
	Mariano Fernández Amunátegui	12 March 2009	11 March 2010
	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

Additional information

See also

• Foreign relations of Chile
• List of diplomatic missions in Chile
• List of diplomatic missions of Chile

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)