'Cause here I go again

Yet another major cabinet reshuffling for Michelle Bachelet, the third in two years, and which she says will initiate the “second stage” of her presidency. Following a pattern, she has brought in another old guard Christian Democrat, Edmundo Pérez Yoma, as Minister of the Interior. He helped put out fires in the 1990s as Minister of Defense and will be expected to do the same now (albeit not with the military this time around). El Mercurio has profiles of the other new ministers, which include PPD president Sergio Bitar in Public Works. It also notes that Pérez Yoma once said that the Bachelet administration “needs Ritalin.”

I keep using the word “disarray.” Bachelet has just not been able to find the right mix of people, and the right mix of policies. Her previous shake-ups have produced nothing of note, and have not stopped her popularity slide.