Government appoints Jorge Rathgeb as regional ministerial secretary (seremi) of Energy in La Araucanía

The President of the Republic, José Antonio Kast Rist, appointed Jorge Evaldo Rathgeb Schifferli as the regional ministerial secretary of Energy for the La Araucanía Region, by means of supreme decree No. 23A of the Ministry of Energy, published in the Official Gazette No. 44,579 on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Section I, pages 1 and 2 (CVE 2885714). The decree is dated in Santiago on April 24, 2026, and stipulates that the appointment takes effect as of April 27, 2026. The designation fills the vacancy of the position opened following the departure of Patrick Lewis Dungan Alvear.

The previous vacancy and the regional shortlist

Supreme decree No. 22A, dated April 20, 2026, from the Ministry of Energy, declared the position of regional ministerial secretary of Energy for the La Araucanía Region vacant as of April 20, 2026, following the formalization of the non-voluntary resignation request submitted to Dungan Alvear. According to the recitals, this resignation was requested verbally by the competent authority.

On this basis, the Presidential Delegate of the La Araucanía Region submitted the shortlist of candidates via official letter No. 756, dated April 16, 2026, in accordance with Article 2, letter k) of the organic constitutional law on Regional Government and Administration. The text also invokes supreme decree No. 4A, dated March 27, 2026, which accepted voluntary resignations of regional ministerial secretaries of Energy in the indicated regions.

Anticipated effectiveness and legal framework

The decree states that the authority will assume functions from April 27, 2026, due to “unpostponable reasons of good service,” without waiting for the full processing of the decree. The position corresponds to grade 4 of the EUS, within the personnel plant of exclusive trust executives of the Undersecretariat of Energy, and the expenditure is charged to subtitle 21, Personnel Expenses, of the current budget of said undersecretariat.

The regulation is based on a set of legal bodies:

• Articles 32 No. 10 and 35 of the Political Constitution of the Republic.
• Law No. 18,575, organic constitutional law on the general bases of the State Administration.
• Law No. 19,175, organic constitutional law on Regional Government and Administration.
• Law No. 20,955, which improves the Senior Public Management System.
• Law No. 18,834, on the Administrative Statute.
• Decree Law No. 2,224, of 1978, which creates the Ministry of Energy and the National Energy Commission.
• Resolution No. 36, of 2024, of the Comptroller General of the Republic.

The decree states that the position is of the exclusive trust of the President of the Republic and is filled from among the individuals in the shortlist prepared by the Regional Presidential Delegate, after consulting the relevant minister, pursuant to Article 7, letter b) of the Administrative Statute and Article 62 of the Organic Constitutional Law on Regional Government and Administration. It adds that the appointee meets the requirements for the position and that there is a favorable opinion from the Minister of Energy, Ximena Rincón González, who signs the decree alongside the President.

Scope of regional leadership

Pursuant to Article 5 of Decree Law No. 2,224, there is a Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Energy in each region of the country, headed by a regional ministerial secretary, who is the representative of the ministry in the region and a direct collaborator of the Regional Presidential Delegate. This definition positions the seremi as the regional counterpart of the Executive in electrical matters and in the monitoring of generation and energy infrastructure projects in the territory.

The appointment is further recorded in the official transcription signed by Andrea Verónica Soto Araya, head of the Legal Division of the Undersecretariat of Energy, with the formula “Be it noted, recorded, and published.”

The appointment of Rathgeb Schifferli —who served as a deputy, as evidenced by legislative motions published in the same official bulletin during 2026— defines the regional leadership of the portfolio in La Araucanía and takes effect retroactively to April 27, meaning the seremi is already exercising the position while the decree completed its processing. For sector operators, the relevant detail is that the regional authority has been formalized by a published supreme decree, which enables official dialogue with the ministry in procedures that require a pronouncement from the seremi.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,579, Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Section I, pp. 1-2 (official reference: CVE 2885714).