Kast accepts Natalia Ducó's resignation from the Sports portfolio

The President of the Republic, José Antonio Kast Rist, accepted the resignation of Natalia Ducó Soler from the position of Minister of Sport, effective as of August 14, 2026. The decision was formalized in Decree No. 130, dated August 13, 2026, from the Ministry of the Interior, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile No. 44,554, on Monday, September 21, 2026, in Section I (General Norms), page 1, with official reference CVE 2868804. The text also bears the signature of the Minister of the Interior, Claudio Alvarado Andrade, and was transcribed by the Undersecretary of the Interior, Máximo Pavez Cantillano.

The decree is issued under Article 32 No. 7 of the Political Constitution of the Republic, Supreme Decree No. 38 of 2026 from the Ministry of the Interior, and Resolution No. 36 of 2024 from the Comptroller General of the Republic, which establishes rules on the exemption from the toma de razón (legal review) process. The regulation is published in the section for laws, regulations, decrees, and resolutions of general order; that is, as an act of general scope and not as a simple administrative communication.

Data established by the decree

• Resigning party: Ms. Natalia Ducó Soler, national identity card No. 16,991,745-0.
• Position: Minister of Sport.
• Date of resignation submission: August 13, 2026.
• Effective date of acceptance: August 14, 2026.
• Appointment regulation: Supreme Decree No. 38, dated March 11, 2026, from the Ministry of the Interior, which appointed the Ministers of State to the indicated portfolios.
• Accepting authority: President of the Republic, with the signature of the Minister of the Interior.

A brief tenure at the head of the portfolio

Natalia Ducó Soler had assumed the role of Minister of Sport as of March 11, 2026, meaning her time in the portfolio extended for just over five months. During that period, she signed acts pertaining to the ministry, including the decree that provided for the position of Regional Ministerial Secretary of Sport for the Coquimbo Region, processed based on a shortlist submitted by the Regional Presidential Delegate and with her favorable opinion as head of the department.

She also authorized official service commissions abroad for herself. One of them, published in the same edition of the Official Gazette on September 21, 2026 (official reference CVE 2868786), designated her to represent Chile at the Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis, United States, between June 18 and 22, 2026, with airfare costs of $3,320,757 and per diems of US$1,216.28. Another, from May 2026, took her to the Ibero-American and American Sports Summit in Asunción, Paraguay.

No successor in the same act

Decree No. 130 is limited to accepting the resignation and does not appoint a new Minister of Sport, meaning the vacancy remains open at the first level of the cabinet. In other decrees from the Ministry of Sport published in the same edition of the bulletin, the presidential signature appears endorsed by Andrés Otero Klein in his capacity as Acting Minister of Sport, who had been appointed Undersecretary of Sport by supreme decree No. 6, dated March 11, 2026.

The portfolio is governed by Law No. 20.686, which creates the Ministry of Sport, and by Law No. 19.712, on Sport, and operates with a budget established in Law No. 21.796, on Public Sector Budgets for the year 2026. The management of these powers remains, for now, in the hands of the acting official until a titular head is appointed.

Impact

The departure of the Minister of Sport leaves leaderless a portfolio that administers national sports policy, the funding of federations, and physical activity programs, in the midst of a cycle of international commitments for the 2026 calendar. For readers, the relevant detail is that the vacancy occurs due to voluntary resignation, retroactive to August 14, and that the official act formalizing it does not include the name of the person who will assume the position.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,554, Monday, September 21, 2026, Section I (General Norms), p. 1 (official reference: CVE 2868804).