Chilean Energy Minister resigns amid conflict of interest

SANTIAGO: Chilean Energy Minister Fernando Echeverria, who took office on Monday in the second reshuffling of President Sebastian Pinera's cabinet, resigned on Thursday due to a "political conflict of interest" with companies in the industry.

Echeverria, who before being appointed Minister of Energy served as the mayor of Santiago, told reporters that he resigned because the construction company he is involved in "provides services to businesses in the energy industry."

"There was no legal inconsistency that (my company) performed (in the energy industry) while I was in office, but I thought at some point decisions could be interpreted as favoring them, so it just seemed right to resign," he said.

The former secretary of state said that at the time of his swearing in he could not have foreseen the situation. But after two days of investigations, he decided to explain the circumstances to the president who agreed with his decision to resign.

Government spokesman Andrew Chadwick said the minister's replacement will be considered in the coming days.

Pressured by rising social unrest in Chile and low popularity, President Pinera restructured his cabinet on Monday and made eight ministerial changes, including naming a new education minister after massive student demonstrations.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011