The diplomatic career in Chile is stagnant. The staff of diplomatic officials was filled in its dome, generating a serious threat to the normal development of the career.
This would be produced by legal limitations – that is, almost perpetual immobility – of the Foreign Service, so that the officials graduated from the Diplomatic Academy are faced with a future of stagnation.
In Chile, only career diplomats can by law be in the ranks. The existing positions are those of third, second and first secretary, counselor and minister counselor. Each of these grades is regulated in its number and no one can ascend if there is not a vacancy in the upper echelon, which can be by promotion or by low.
The highest grade, minister counselor, has by law 68 places and they are currently all occupied. Of these, 56 will be over 59 by the end of 2021, while 34 will be 65 or older.
The position of ambassador is trusted by the president. Therefore, a minister counselor, when appointed, must resign his position in the Foreign Service and it is regulated that he cannot be over 65 years old. However, as there is civil servant immobility, for some time many minister counselors reject their promotion because they prefer to continue in the race, becoming a reality the saying “from the ministry to the cemetery”.
And this, in turn, generates consequences in the lower echelons, since the entire ladder stagnates and the normal functioning of the race is frozen. This “taco” discourages civil servants, as their chances of promotion are limited.
