Government Departures Reach 48 as Coquimbo Energy Seremi Resigns

Fabián Páez, Coquimbo's regional energy secretary (seremi) since March 30, resigned September 17 after the Comptroller's Office (Contraloría) objected that he did not meet the position's academic requirements; the Mining seremi, Juan Carlos Salinas, assumed the energy portfolio on an interim basis. Páez's exit was the 38th seremi-level departure and the 48th total departure (including ministers, undersecretaries and other officials) from the Kast administration since it took office in March, following two other regional secretary resignations earlier the same week — Antofagasta's housing seremi (Sep 14, over social-housing management failures) and Araucanía's health seremi (Sep 15, over a remark comparing elderly-care facility closures to waste disposal).