Original article: Para comunicar sí hay plata: Gobierno de Kast propone aumentar 44% presupuesto de la Secom mientras recorta recursos a organizaciones sociales

Kast Administration Proposes 44% Budget Increase for Communication While Social Organizations Face Cuts

The José Antonio Kast administration has chosen to prioritize its communication machinery over social welfare. In a clear illustration of its budgetary priorities, the government proposes a 44% increase in the budget of the Secretariat of Communications (Secom), while implementing severe cuts to social organizations and various areas of the General Secretariat of Government (Segegob). This decision sharply contrasts with the austerity rhetoric maintained by the ultraright administration.

Communications have been a fundamental pillar for Kast, even before he took office at La Moneda, playing a key role in his electoral campaign. However, this sector has evolved into a political vulnerability, highlighted by setbacks such as the departure of Mara Sedini as spokesperson. In light of this situation, the president decided to assign these tasks to the Minister of the Interior, Claudio Alvarado, now serving in dual roles. Within this context, the budget line 20 of Segegob sees a decrease of 7.72% in the 2027 Budget, with an inflation projection of 3.1%.

Amid this fiscal contraction, the Secretariat of Communications (Secom) stands out as the major exception. This unit, led by Felipe «Yeti» Costabal, is the only one of the internal allocations that is receiving a budget increase, with a 44.17% rise, increasing from 412 to 613 million pesos. Its responsibilities include the dissemination of government activities, the approval of spokespersons, filtering interviews, preparing briefs, monitoring public opinion through polls, designing public interest campaigns, and coordinating the digital narrative. This team works directly in sync with the communication team of the Presidency, headed by Cristián Valenzuela and María Paz Fadel.

Budget Cuts in Segegob

While Secom benefits from an increase of over 200 million pesos, other areas of Segegob are facing drastic resource reductions. The Division of Social Organizations is experiencing a real cut of 23.47%, dropping from 579 to 457 million pesos. Additionally, funds allocated for local media and social organizations are also being diminished, with decreases of 2.94% and 4.2%, respectively.

The monitoring of public policies and institutional management sees a decrease from 783 to 625 million pesos, representing a variance of -22.62%.

On the other hand, the Media Fund administration reduces its budget from 155 to 129 million pesos, a drop of 19.05%, while the Public Interest Organizations Fund decreases from 149 to 132 million pesos, equivalent to a reduction of 14.36%.

The Citizen Participation and Non-Discrimination Observatory also sees its budget trimmed by 19.87%, falling from 110 to 91 million pesos.

Even more significantly, the Single Portal for Competitive Funds, which had 89 million in 2026, is not projected for 2027, as noted by La Tercera.

According to the mentioned media, the government justifies the increase in resources for Secom by citing an exercise of «budgetary sincerity». They explain that after periods when the unit had higher budgetary allocations that were subsequently reduced, during 2024 and 2025 the administration of former president Boric had to resort to budget modification decrees to add back those amounts. Regarding staffing, the spending limit for personnel increases from 412 to 538 million pesos, but the maximum number of staff decreases from 29 to 24.

Cuts to CNTV

Austerity has also heavily impacted the National Television Council (CNTV). Its budget allocation experiences a real decrease of 17.68%. The funds transferred from the Undersecretariat of Cultures to the CNTV drop from 7,905 million to 5,756 million pesos. The primary explanation revolves around the Cultural Programs Support Fund, which loses 2,169 million nominally. At the ministerial level, the decision was to maintain the maximum staffing at 517 individuals, with 35 vehicles, 25 contractual positions for managerial functions, and 21 individuals on assignment for critical functions. However, extraordinary hours face a sharp decline of 76.3%, losing 88 million nominally, reported La Tercera.

The 2027 Budget paints a contrasting picture for the Kast administration. While the communication narrative is reinforced with a historic increase of 44%, the avenues for citizen participation, the strengthening of civil society, and support for local media suffer cuts exceeding 20% in some instances. The government’s priority appears to decisively tilt towards the defense and promotion of its own discourse, to the detriment of social organizations and channels of participation.

*Featured image: Government of Chile.