María Cecilia Chacón Rendón is a Bolivianlawyer, political scientist and the Minister of Defense.[1] As of taking office on 6 April 2011, she became the first woman to occupy that office. She served as General Director of Multilateral Relations (Spanish: Directora General de Relaciones Multilaterales) and Chief of Cabinet for the Vice Ministry of Foreign Economic and Commercial Relations (Spanish: Jefa de Gabinete del Viceministerio Relaciones Económicas y Comercio Exterior) in the Foreign Ministry under President Evo Morales.[1] She also worked in the Water Ministry.[2]
She resigned from the post of Minister of Defense during the 2011 Bolivian protests in reaction to the governments violent crackdown on demonstrators opposed to a highway project in a national park.
1 Merged into the Ministry of Justice 2 Merged into the Ministry of Environment 3 Merged into the attorney general's office 4 Merged into the Ministry of the Presidency 5 Merged into the Ministry of Productive Development