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Original article: Kast descabeza Conadi tras negativa de director a retirar carpetas de compra de tierras

José Antonio Kast has removed lawyer Álvaro Morales Marileo from the national directorate of the National Corporation for Indigenous Development (Conadi) after he declined the president’s order to halt ongoing land purchase processes.

The far-right leader utilized a legal provision that allows the head of state to appoint up to 12 service chiefs during the first three months of his administration without going through high-level public management mechanisms, to execute Morales’s dismissal from the organization responsible for indigenous policy in the country.

Morales took up the national directorate in June 2024, initially serving in an acting capacity before his formal confirmation. His track record within the organization includes the role of prosecutor, which provided him with significant insight into the institution’s administrative and legal processes. His deep understanding of these processes, according to his own statements, eventually led to a breaking point with the new administration.

In an interview with El Austral, Morales shared details surrounding his departure, acknowledging that despite the abrupt removal, he understood the political motivations behind it. He admitted that his ideological profile did not align with that of the incoming government, a factor he believed made his exit foreseeable.

«I Leave with My Head Held High»

Reflecting on his management during his tenure at the corporation, Morales highlighted progress in internal organization and land restitution, stressing his work to clear the so-called «waiting list.»

“I leave with my head held high and with the conviction that the waiting list for land applicability and restitution was organized justly,” the former official stated.

He also provided statistics to illustrate the impact of his leadership. «We concluded an administration with over 260 applicable cases, of which purchases already executed amount to 25,696 hectares benefiting 2,593 families,» he noted.

Morales characterized his time at the institution as a «historical» period, emphasizing the successes achieved in land purchases and the number of beneficiaries.

He disclosed that the factor that led to his dismissal dates back to the days following the power transition when he received a direct request that, in his view, contradicted Conadi’s legal mandate. “

The next day, I was asked to withdraw three files from the Comptroller’s Office regarding land purchase processes we had submitted between January and March of this year, an instruction I refused to follow, given that Conadi’s mission is a legal mandate,” he explained.

This refusal to stop ongoing administrative processes, which were under review by the auditing body, is believed to have triggered his termination by Kast’s administration.

Possible New Conadi Director Linked to the Right

With the vacancy at the national directorate, names are being circulated in La Moneda and the political sector aligned with the president to fill the position.

According to Diario U. de Chile, two candidates are emerging as frontrunners, both with ties to the right and experience in previous administrations. These are lawyers Richard Caifal and Ignacio Malig, who have held meetings with Social Development Minister María Jesús Wulf.

Malig is not a stranger to the organization, having previously served as Conadi’s national director from 2019 to 2022 during the second term of the late former president Sebastián Piñera. In addition to that background, he currently serves as the regional president of Evópoli and has also held the position of regional minister for Justice.

Meanwhile, lawyer Richard Caifal, who identifies as independent and is a member of Enama, is remembered for being one of the faces of the «Reject» campaign against the new Constitution drafted by the Constitutional Convention, where he ran as a candidate but was not elected.

A report by TVN revealed that he received a total of $13,160,000 in contributions for his candidacy, «eleven of which came from Evópoli,» along with funds provided by entrepreneurs Juan Sutil, Luis José Garreaud, Rodrigo Manubens, and Rodrigo Paillalef.

Caifal also served as governor of the Cautín province during Sebastián Piñera’s second government and in 2020 took on the role of acting intendant of La Araucanía after the incumbent, Víctor Manoli, tested positive for COVID-19.

The two professionals were candidates for the Regional Council in the 2023 elections, and their meetings with the Social Development Minister suggest that the decision on the new director could be progressing, pending official announcement from La Moneda.

La entrada Kast Ousts Conadi Director After Refusal to Withdraw Land Purchase Files se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.