President-elect José Antonio Kast has selected economist Tomás Rau as likely Minister of Labor, lawyer Fernando Rabat for Justice, and former minister Catalina Parot for National Goods, as he finalizes his team for the January 20 announcement.
President-elect José Antonio Kast is advancing the formation of his first cabinet, set to be presented on January 20. Sources close to the decision indicate he has chosen 52-year-old economist Tomás Rau Binder as his most probable Minister of Labor and Social Security. Rau, a full professor at Universidad Católica and recently returned from a sabbatical year in New York and London, holds a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a student of Nobel laureate David Card. Specializing in labor economics and econometrics, Rau directed the UC's Instituto de Economía until March 2025 and is a columnist for La Tercera. In a recent column, he wrote: “The main antidote to poverty is work,” critiquing reliance on subsidies amid the 2024 Casen survey results.
For the Ministry of Justice, Kast is leaning toward independent lawyer Fernando Rabat, 53, a civil law specialist and professor at Universidad del Desarrollo. A graduate of Universidad de los Andes, Rabat was part of teams defending former General Augusto Pinochet in cases like Riggs and Operación Colombo, within the firm of Pablo Rodríguez and Pedro Pablo Vergara. He will face challenges including the prison crisis, Gendarmería's transfer to the Ministry of Security, and reforms to judicial appointments. Kast has stressed: “We must remove politics from appointments to avoid quotas.”
Catalina Parot, a former Evópoli member, will take National Goods. She previously held the post in Sebastián Piñera's first government and served as CNTV president in the second. She recently met with Claudio Alvarado, the incoming Interior Minister. These choices reflect Kast's preference for trusted profiles, blending independents and experienced experts, amid intensive consultations to finalize the team.
