Chile’s latest revolution: president Boric pledges gender equality and major change

The new government has appointed the country’s first majority female cabinet and is promising big social changes, reports James Jackson in Santiago

Chile's president Gabriel Boric is greeted by government spokeswoman Camila Vallejo and Interior Minister Izkia Siches (REUTERS)

With the moment marked by two men passing a sash and a medal to each other, it might look like a traditional handover of power, but make no mistake – this is the official inauguration of one of the world’s most feminist governments ever.

President Gabriel Boric, inaugurated on Friday, has shown his commitment to gender equality in a number of ways; with 14 women and 10 men, he has the country’s first majority female cabinet, giving women many of the powerful offices of state typically reserved for men, such as the foreign ministry and the defence ministry.

He has moved the Ministry for Women into the inner circles of government and into the president’s office at La Moneda, where he held his first speech as president and addressed the assembled crowd first as “women of Chile”.