Nicolás Cataldo | |
Office1: | Minister of Education of Chile |
President1: | Gabriel Boric |
Term Start1: | 16 August 2023 |
Predecessor1: | Marco Antonio Ávila |
Office2: | Undersecretary of Regional Development |
Term Start2: | 8 September 2022 |
Term End2: | 16 August 2023 |
President2: | Gabriel Boric |
Predecessor2: | Miguel Crispi |
Successor2: | Francisca Perales |
Office3: | Undersecretary of Education |
Term Start3: | 11 March 2022 |
Term End3: | 8 September 2022 |
President3: | Gabriel Boric |
Predecessor3: | Jorge Poblete |
Successor3: | Gabriel Bosque |
Birth Date: | 22 June 1984 |
Birth Place: | Valparaíso, Chile |
Nationality: | Chile |
Alma Mater: | University of Valparaíso Major University (MA) |
Nicolás Cataldo Astorga (born 22 June 1984)[1] is a Chilean politician who has been serving as Minister of Education since 16 August 2023.[2] Previously, he served as the Undersecretary of Regional Development and Education between 2022 and 2023.
Cataldo studied pedagogy in history and social sciences at the University of Valparaíso. He also has a postgraduate diploma in emotional education.[3] During his time of study, he was a student leader and joined the Student Federation of the University of Valparaíso.[4]
During the second government of Michelle Bachelet, between 2015 and 2018, he worked in the legislative team of the Ministry of Education, getting involved in the processing of bills related to the education reform.[5] In February 2022, he was appointed by the then president-elect Gabriel Boric, as the Undersecretary of Education, being the first member of the Communist Party of Chile in the position. He assumed that position on March 11 of that year.
On September 6, he was going to be appointed as the new Undersecretary of the Interior to replace Manuel Monsalve, however, some controversial tweets by Cataldo against the Carabineros de Chile went viral.[6] Due to this inconvenience, the appointment as Undersecretary of the Interior was cancelled, leaving Monsalve in his position, while he was appointed as Undersecretary of Regional Development.[7] [8]