Ministry of Public Works (Chile)

The Ministry of Public Works (Spanish: Ministerio de Obras Públicas) is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of "planning, directing, controlling and building the public infrastructure, as well as the conservation and management of them" within Chile. It is also responsible for the "management, distribution, use and conservation" of all the water resources within the country. They answer directly to the President of Chile. The present (since March 11, 2010) Minister of Public Works is Mr Hernán de Solminihac and his Under-secretary is Ms Loreto Silva.

History

The office was first created by law of June 21, 1887, under President José Manuel Balmaceda as the Ministry of Industry and Public Works. Since then it has undergone several reorganizations during its history, reflected in its different names:

• Ministry of Industry and Public Works June 21, 1887 - May 20, 1910
• Ministry of Industry, Public Works and Railroads May 20, 1910 - December 19, 1924
• Ministry of Public Works and Roads December 19, 1924 - March 21, 1925
• Ministry of Public Works, Commerce and Communication Roads March 21, 1925 - October 3, 1927
• Ministry of Foment October 3, 1927 - October 21, 1942
• Ministry of Public Works and Communication Roads October 21, 1942 – 1953
• Ministry of Public Works 1953 - December 13, 1967
• Ministry of Public Works and Transports December 13, 1967 - July 8, 1974
• Ministry of Public Works July 8, 1974 – present

Titulars

Ministers of Industry and Public Works

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Pedro Montt Montt	June 28, 1887	April 13, 1888		José Manuel Balmaceda
	Vicente Dávila Larraín	April 13, 1888	November 2, 1888
	Prudencio Lazcano Echaurren	November 2, 1888	January 21, 1889
	Enrique Salvador Sanfuentes Andonaegui	January 21, 1889	May 1, 1889
	Jorge Riesco Errázuriz	May 1, 1889	October 23, 1889
	Ramón Barros Luco	October 23, 1889	November 7, 1889
	José Miguel Valdés Carrera	November 7, 1889	August 7, 1890
	Macario Vial Guzmán	August 7, 1890	October 15, 1890
	Eulogio Allendes Álvarez de Toledo	October 15, 1890	December 6, 1890
	Guillermo Mackenna Serrano	December 6, 1890	March 29, 1891
	Nicanor Ugalde Godoy	March 29, 1891	August 29, 1891
	Agustín Edwards Ross	September 7, 1891	March 14, 1892	Appointed by	Revolutionary Junta of Iquique
					Reappointed by	Jorge Montt
	Jorge Riesco Errázuriz	March 14, 1892	June 11, 1892
	Vicente Dávila Larraín	June 11, 1892	1894
	Manuel Antonio Prieto	1894	1894
	Elías Fernández Albano	1894	1895
	Juan Miguel Dávila	1895	1895
	Elías Fernández Albano	1895	September 18, 1896
	Francisco Baeza	September 18, 1896	1896		Federico Errázuriz Echaurren
	Francisco de Borja Valdés Cuevas	1896	1897
	Belisario Prats Bello	1897	1897
	Domingo Toro Herrera	1897	1897
	Emilio Orrego Luco	1897	1897
	Julio Bañados Espinoza	1897	1898
	Emilio Bello Codecido	1898	1898
	Arturo Alessandri Palma	1898	1899
	Daniel Rioseco	1899	September 2, 1899
	Gregorio Pinochet Espinoza	September 2, 1899	died October 28, 1899	Died in office
	Florencio Valdés Cuevas	October 30, 1899	1900
	Abraham Gacitúa Brieva	1900	1900
	Rafael Orrego González	1900	1900
	Manuel Covarrubias	1900	1901
	José Ramón Nieto	1901	1901
	Joaquín Fernández Blanco	1901	September 18, 1901	Appointed by
				Reappointed by	Aníbal Zañartu
	Ismael Tocornal Tocornal	September 18, 1901	1901		Germán Riesco
	Rafael Orrego González	1901	1902
	José Joaquín Villarino Cabezón	May 5, 1902	1902
	Agustín Gana Urzúa	1902	1903
	Francisco Rivas Vicuña	1903	1903
	Maximiliano Espinoza Pica	1903	1903
	Manuel Espinoza Jara	1903	May 12, 1904
	Carlos Gregorio Abalos Varela	May 12, 1904	June 1, 1904
	Francisco de Borja Valdés Cuevas	June 1, 1904	1904
	Anfión Muñoz Muñoz	1904	1904
	Eduardo Charme Fernández	1904	1905
	Enrique Villegas Encalada	1905	1905
	José Ramón Gutiérrez	1905	1906
	Ramón Antonio Vergara Donoso	1906	1906
	Abraham Ovalle Ovalle	1906	September 18, 1906
	Eduardo Charme Fernández	September 18, 1906	October 29, 1906		Pedro Montt
	Carlos Gregorio Abalos Varela	October 29, 1906	November 7, 1906
	Anselmo Hevia Riquelme	November 7, 1906	1907
	Gonzalo Urrejola Unzueta	1907	1907
	Joaquín Figueroa Larraín	1907	August 29, 1908
	Guillermo Echavarría	August 29, 1908	January 22, 1909
	Manuel Espinoza Jara	January 22, 1909	June 15, 1909
	Pedro García de la Huerta	June 15, 1909	September 15, 1909
	Eduardo Délano	September 15, 1909	June 25, 1910

Ministers of Industry, Public Works and Railroads

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Fidel Muñoz Rodríguez	June 25, 1910	November 10, 1910	Appointed by	Pedro Montt
				Reappointed by	Elías Fernández Albano
				Reappointed by	Emiliano Figueroa
	Beltrán Mathieu Andrews	November 10, 1910	December 23, 1910
	Ismael Valdés Vergara	December 23, 1910	1911		Ramón Barros Luco
	Javier Gandarillas Matta	1911	1911
	Enrique Zañartu Prieto	1911	1912
	Abraham Ovalle Ovalle	1912	1912
	Belfor Fernández	1912	1912
	Oscar Viel Cavero	1912	1913
	Enrique Zañartu Prieto	1913	1914
	Absalón Valencia	1914	1914
	Julio Garcés	1914	1914
	Cornelio Saavedra Montt	1914	1915
	Fernando Freire	1915	1915
	Pedro Felipe Iñiguez	1915	December 23, 1915
	Roberto Guzmán Montt	December 23, 1915	1916		Juan Luis Sanfuentes
	Angel Guarello Costa	1916	1916
	Justiniano Sotomayor Guzmán	1916	1916
	Ramón León Luco	1916	1917
	Alberto González Errázuriz	1917	1917
	Malaquías Concha Ortiz	1917	1918
	Francisco Landa Zárate	1918	1918
	Ramón Briones	1918	1918
	Francisco Landa Zárate	1918	1918
	Vicente Adrián Villalobos	1918	1919
	Manuel O'Ryan Carrasco	1919	1919
	Malaquías Concha Ortiz	1919	1919
	Oscar Dávila Izquierdo	1919	1920
	Malaquías Concha Ortiz	1920	1920
	Armando Jaramillo Valderrama	1920	December 23, 1920
	Zenón Torrealba Ilabaca	December 23, 1920	1921		Arturo Alessandri
	Artemio Gutiérrez	1921	1921
	Armando Jaramillo Valderrama	1921	1922
	Pedro Fajardo	1922	1922
	Miguel Letelier Espínola	1922	1922
	Absalón Valencia	1922	1923
	Róbinson Paredes Pacheco	1923	1923
	Vicente Adrián Villalobos	1923	1923
	Juan Vargas Márquez	1923	1923
	Francisco Mardones Otaíza	1923	1924
	Vicente Adrián Villalobos	1924	1924
	Róbinson Paredes Pacheco	1924	1924
	Guillermo Bañados	1924	1924
	Angel Guarello Costa	1924	1924

Ministers of Public Works and Roads

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Oscar Dávila Izquierdo	October 17, 1924	December 19, 1924		September Junta
	Luis Molina Gómez	December 19, 1924	January 23, 1925
	Francisco Mardones Otaíza	January 29, 1925	August 27, 1925	Appointed by	January Junta
				Reappointed by	Arturo Alessandri
	Gustavo Lira Manso	August 27, 1925	October 2, 1925

Ministers of Public Works, Commerce and Communication Roads

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Alejandro García Castelblanco	October 2, 1925	December 23, 1925		Arturo Alessandri
	Angel Guarello Costa	December 23, 1925	November 20, 1926		Emiliano Figueroa
	Julio Velasco	November 20, 1926	May 23, 1927
	Emiliano Ortiz Vega	May 23, 1927	September 6, 1927		Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
	Enrique Balmaceda Toro	September 6, 1927	September 29, 1927	Interim

Ministers of Foment

See also

• Foreign relations of Chile

Sources

• República de Chile (1942). "VI. Poder Ejecutivo - Nómina de Gobernantes, Presidentes y Ministros desde la Independencia.". Manual del Senado. 1810-1942 (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Universitaria.  (in Spanish)
• Valencia Avaria, Luis (1986). Anales de la República: textos constitucionales de Chile y registro de los ciudadanos que han integrado los poderes ejecutivo y legislativo desde 1810 (in Spanish) (2ª edición ed.). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Andrés Bello.  (in Spanish)

External links

• Official Website of Public Works of Chile (in Spanish)