The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile 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:

Titulars

Ministers of foreign affairs and colonization

Ministers of foreign affairs and worship

Ministers of foreign affairs, worship and colonization

Ministers of foreign affairs (first creation)

Ministers of foreign affairs and commerce

Ministers of foreign affairs (second creation)

Additional information

Sources