Rafael Araos has followed through on his threat and resigned from his position as Deputy Secretary of Science, following a disagreement with Minister Lincolao.

This Monday, what had almost happened the previous week finally occurred: the resignation of the Undersecretary for Science, Rafael Araos, following a disagreement with the Minister of the portfolio, Ximena Lincolao. Although the government wanted to wait until this Tuesday to announce it, sources within the ministry indicate that Araos said goodbye to the officials on Monday, the same day that Lincolao returned from her tour of the United States. Her trip to North America had, in fact, put her conflict with the now former undersecretary on hold. The disagreements arose after rumors began circulating among the ministry's staff that layoffs were imminent. This crisis had started earlier, on Thursday, April 30, when the minister asked the undersecretary to implement a plan for staff reductions. According to various sources familiar with the situation, this would have affected approximately 40 people, representing about 30% of the total staff. Araos refused and, according to various sources, did not want to sign the layoff orders, offering his resignation instead. However, that resignation never materialized, in part due to Lincolao's trip to the United States as part of the "Choose Chile" program. According to internal sources, the minister had already initiated the process before leaving the country and personally instructed the undersecretary to carry out the layoffs. This was the breaking point. Rafael Araos, head of epidemiology at the Minsal. AILE DIAZ. And so, with Lincolao's return to her duties in Chile on Monday, the conflict, which had only been paused, ended with Araos's definitive departure. But he was not the only one. Along with him, the head of the cabinet, Camila Skewes, and the head of the Legal Division, Alejandra Tagle, also resigned. Rumors of other departures had already been circulating, fueled by the idea that Araos might resign. These resignations are a significant issue for Lincolao, especially considering that, in the context of fiscal austerity implemented by the government, the Ministry of Science had decided to merge the cabinets of the ministry and the undersecretariat, which means that the Secretary of State has also lost her support staff. Carolina Rossi, director of Emerging Technologies at the ministry, who had been working with Lincolao since early April, will assume the position of acting undersecretary. The former undersecretary has no political affiliation and is a specialist in internal medicine, an infectious disease specialist, and holds a Master's degree in Medical Sciences from Harvard University. His resume had caught the attention of Minister Lincolao, who recruited him as undersecretary at the beginning of this administration. Furthermore, the professional already had experience in the public sector, having served as head of the Department of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health during the pandemic, and he led the development of computer platforms for epidemiological surveillance. He gained recognition there. Araos is thus the first significant departure from the Kast government. He is the first undersecretary to resign, aside from the numerous regional secretaries who have followed the same path. On the other hand, sources within the ministry claim that the atmosphere has become unsustainable between the minister's management and the employees of the ministry.