## Notes from 18 December 2025 [[2025-12-17|← Previous note]] ┃ [[2025-12-19|Next note →]] Came across [Futuro Público](https://www.futuropublico.cl/), a Chilean initiative launched just days after Kast's victory on December 14. The program aims to recruit 100 young professionals (under 35) for an intensive two-day bootcamp in January, after which they join a talent database available to the incoming administration for staffing ministries and agencies starting March 11. I've always found it fascinating how the Chilean right has built long-term infrastructure for forming new cadres. The [[Fundación Jaime Guzmán]]'s "[Jóvenes al Servicio de Chile](https://www.archivochile.com/Chile_actual/elecciones_2009_2/03-1_pinera_2/03-1_pinera_2%200013.PDF)" program, launched in 2000, is the canonical example - it sent young professionals to work in remote municipalities across the country. Over 400 people went through the program, and it produced a generation of talent for the Piñera governments, including [[Gonzalo Blumel]] (who became Interior Minister) and [[Ignacio Guerrero]] (Undersecretary of Economy). Both started as municipal staff in Futrono through the program. This kind of patient, decades-long investment in human capital is something the Latin American left has historically done better at... so seeing the right build equivalent pipelines is notable. A few things make Futuro Público interesting: - Applications opened December 16, close January 4, bootcamp happens January 16-17. That's less than a month from electoral victory to trained cohort. There's a clear urgency to build a talent pipeline before inauguration. - The under-35 requirement is explicit, and the program targets professionals currently in the private sector, NGOs, or academia who may not have worked in government before. As one of the organizers put it, they're looking for people without existing political networks. - The advisory council brings together different strands of the Chilean right: classical liberals from [[Libertad y Desarrollo (LyD)]], conservative-leaning think tanks like [IES](https://www.ieschile.cl/) and [IdeaPaís](cl), hard-right figures from Kast's party, and academic and institutional voices like Ignacio Sánchez (former UC rector) and María José Naudon (UAI). This isn't a purely partisan operation - and it kind of feels like a watered-down version of [[Project 2025]]'s personnel recruitment arm. - [[Bettina Horst]], who sits on Chile's [[Sistema de Alta Dirección Pública (SADP)|Consejo de Alta Dirección Pública]] (the bipartisan body overseeing senior civil service appointments) is on the advisory council. She's been on the CADP since 2016, spanning Bachelet, Piñera, and Boric governments. Having someone with that institutional role involved signals this isn't meant to bypass merit-based systems. Modules cover public management basics, crisis communications, probidad and transparency, budgeting, political relations, and a "laboratorio político" for high-pressure scenarios. This feels like an interesting model for government transitions in contexts where incoming administrations need to staff hundreds of positions quickly but lack deep bench strength. The combination of rapid mobilization, youth focus, and pluralistic backing is worth tracking. Whether it produces genuinely capable public servants or just loyal cadres remains to be seen. btw, are there comparable transition mechanisms in other Latin American countries? Or is Chile's relatively institutionalized political system what makes something like this possible?