Ministry of National Defense (Chile)

Ministry of National Defense

Ministerio de Defensa Nacional
Logo of the Ministry of National Defense
Flag of the Ministry of National Defense
Ministry headquarters
Agency overview
Formed	1932
Preceding agencies	• Ministry of War and Navy (1818-1924) • Ministry of War (1924-1927,1927-1932) • Ministry of Navy (1924-1927,1927-1932) • Ministry of National Defense (1927) • Ministry of War and Aviation (1932)
Type	Ministry
Jurisdiction	Government of Chile
Headquarters	Zenteno 45 (esquina Alameda Bernardo O'Higgins) Santiago
Ministers responsible	Baldo Prokurica, Minister of National Defense Cristián de la Maza Riquelme, Undersecretary of Defense Alfonso Vargas Lyng, Undersecretary of the Armed Forces
Child agencies	Chilean Armed Forces ASMAR ENAER FAMAE Military Ordinariate of Chile
Website	Official website (in Spanish)

The Ministry of National Defense (Spanish: Ministerio de Defensa Nacional) is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of "maintaining the independence and sovereignty" of Chile. It is also charged with planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling and informing the defense policies formulated by the President of Chile. The minister supervises all the Chilean armed forces. It is Chile's ministry of defence.

History[]

During the first days of the independence movements, the senior "secretary" of the respective Junta would function as the Secretary of Government with administrative power over the army. The office officially first came to be on March 17, 1814, when then Supreme Director Francisco de la Lastra dictated the approved on that date. It was then named Secretariat of War. It was abolished the same year by the Spanish authorities when, after the Battle of Rancagua, they re-asserted royal power.

On October 23, 1818, after independence the secretariat was re-established, but this time with the inclusion of the Department of Navy as a "Secretariat of War and Navy" (1818-1837), though in common usage, the secretaries started to be called ministers when they held both secretariats (War and Navy) concurrently. Later on February 1, 1837 the office was officially renamed "Ministry of War and Navy" (1837-1932). In 1924, War and Navy were separated into two independent ministries, but on July 8, 1932 both branches were reunited again into one ministry renamed "Ministry of Defense", with the addition of the department of Aviation that had belonged to the Ministry of the Interior until that date.

On October 28, 1947, by Decree 2.320, it fell under the purview of this ministry the control of the Supreme Command of National Defense, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Central Purchasing Committee of the Armed Forces, the Civil Defense Forces and the Chilean chapter of the Red Cross. In 1960, the oversight was expanded to include the Superior Council on National Security (Consusena) and the Council of Commanders-in-Chief. According to Decree 200 of April 15, 1976, the oversight was again expanded to include the National Police (Carabineros and Investigaciones).

As indicated before, this ministry has undergone several reorganizations during its long history, reflected in its different names:

• Secretariat of War (1814)
• Secretariat of War and Navy (1818-1831)
• Ministry of War and Navy (1831-1924)
• Ministry of War and Ministry of Navy (1924-1932)
• Ministry of National Defense - First Creation (1932)

• Ministry of War and Aviation and Ministry of Navy (1932)

• Ministry of National Defense - Second Creation (1932–present)

Organization[]

The main dependencies of the Ministry are:

• Undersecretary of Defense: in charge of the defence policy

• (ANEPE)

• Undersecretary of the Armed Forces in charge of the administratives duties
• Joint Staff Command

Titulars[]

Patria Vieja period[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
		March 14, 1814	July 23, 1814	Secretary of War	Francisco de la Lastra
	Manuel Rodríguez Erdoyza	August 10, 1814	October 2, 1814	Secretary of War

Ministers of War and Navy[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	José Ignacio Zenteno del Pozo	February 18, 1817	October 8, 1820		Bernardo O'Higgins
	José Antonio Rodríguez Aldea	October 8, 1820	January 7, 1823	Secretary of War
			January 28, 1823	Secretary of Navy
		January 7, 1823		Secretary of War
		January 28, 1823	April 4, 1823	Secretary of War	Government Junta
	Mariano Egaña Fabres			Secretary of Navy
		April 4, 1823	July 12, 1824		Ramón Freire
		July 12, 1824	February 22, 1825
		February 22, 1825	June 18, 1825	Secretary of War
	Francisco Ramón Vicuña Larraín			Secretary of Navy
		June 18, 1825	October 9, 1825	Secretary of War
				Secretary of Navy
		October 9, 1825	June 21, 1826
		June 21, 1826	September 26, 1826	Interim
	Luis de la Cruz y Goyeneche	September 26, 1826	March 8, 1827		Agustín Eyzaguirre
		March 8, 1827	July 16, 1829		Ramón Freire
	José Santiago Muñoz Bezanilla	July 16, 1829	November 9, 1829		Francisco Ramón Vicuña
		November 9, 1829	December 7, 1829
		February 20, 1830	September 25, 1830	Appointed by	Francisco Ruiz-Tagle
				Reappointed by	José Tomás Ovalle
	José María de la Cruz Prieto	September 25, 1830	March 24, 1831	Appointed by
				Reappointed by	Fernando Errázuriz Aldunate
	Diego Portales Palazuelos	March 24, 1831	August 31, 1831	Appointed by
				Reappointed by	José Joaquín Prieto Vial
		August 31, 1831	September 19, 1831	Secretary of War
				Secretary of Navy
	Diego Portales Palazuelos	September 19, 1831	December 4, 1832
		December 4, 1832	April 21, 1835
	Diego Portales Palazuelos	April 21, 1835	June 7, 1836
		June 7, 1836	March 27, 1841
	Manuel Montt Torres	March 27, 1841	September 18, 1841	Interim
	José María de la Cruz Prieto	September 18, 1841	April 20, 1842		Manuel Bulnes Prieto
		April 20, 1842	September 18, 1846
		September 18, 1846	April 8, 1848
		April 8, 1848	September 18, 1851
	José Francisco Gana	September 18, 1851	January 13, 1853		Manuel Montt Torres
		January 13, 1853	September 18, 1856
	José Francisco Gana	September 18, 1856	September 29, 1857
	Manuel García Banqueda	September 29, 1857	July 9, 1862	Appointed by
				Reappointed by	José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano
	Marcos Maturana del Campo	July 9, 1862	March 30, 1865
		March 30, 1865	September 8, 1866
	Federico Errázuriz Zañartu	September 8, 1866	November 13, 1868
		November 13, 1868	August 2, 1870
		August 2, 1870	September 18, 1871
	Aníbal Pinto Garmendia	September 18, 1871	April 3, 1875		Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
		April 3, 1875	April 19, 1875
		April 19, 1875	September 18, 1876
		September 18, 1876	October 27, 1877		Aníbal Pinto
		October 27, 1877	August 5, 1878
	Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez	August 5, 1878	April 17, 1879
		April 17, 1879	August 20, 1879
		August 20, 1879	June 16, 1880
	Eusebio Lillo Robles	June 16, 1880	July 15, 1880
		July 15, 1880	September 18, 1881
		September 18, 1881	January 18, 1884		Domingo Santa María
	Patricio Lynch y Solo de Zaldívar	January 18, 1884	May 7, 1884
		May 7, 1884	September 18, 1886
		September 18, 1886	November 30, 1886		José Manuel Balmaceda
		November 30, 1886	June 28, 1887
		June 28, 1887	April 13, 1888
		April 13, 1888	November 2, 1888
		November 2, 1888	May 1, 1889
	José Miguel Valdés Carrera	May 1, 1889	June 11, 1889
		June 11, 1889	October 23, 1889
		October 23, 1889	November 7, 1889
	Luis Barros Borgoño	November 7, 1889	January 21, 1890
	José Velásquez Bórquez	January 21, 1890	August 7, 1890
	Federico Errázuriz Echaurren	August 7, 1890	October 15, 1890
	José Francisco Gana Castro	October 15, 1890	March 29, 1891
	José Velásquez Bórquez	March 29, 1891	August 29, 1891
	Adolfo Holley Urzúa	September 7, 1891	December 26, 1891		Revolutionary Junta of Iquique
		December 26, 1891	March 14, 1892		Jorge Montt
	Luis Barros Borgoño	March 14, 1892	July 9, 1892
		July 9, 1892	September 22, 1892
		September 22, 1892	April 22, 1893
		April 22, 1893	August 8, 1893
		August 8, 1893	October 6, 1893
		October 6, 1893	April 26, 1894
		April 26, 1894	December 7, 1894
		December 7, 1894	August 1, 1895
		August 1, 1895	November 24, 1895
	Luis Barros Borgoño	November 24, 1895	September 18, 1896
	Manuel Bulnes Pinto	September 18, 1896	November 26, 1896		Federico Errázuriz Echaurren
	Elías Fernández Albano	November 26, 1896	June 26, 1897
		June 26, 1897	August 25, 1897
		August 25, 1897	December 23, 1897
		December 23, 1897	May 5, 1898
		May 5, 1898	December 19, 1898
		December 19, 1898	June 27, 1899
	Javier Angel Figueroa Larraín	June 27, 1899	September 2, 1899
		September 2, 1899	November 27, 1899
	Ricardo Matte Pérez	November 27, 1899	November 3, 1900
		November 3, 1900	March 14, 1901
		March 14, 1901	May 1, 1901
		May 1, 1901	September 18, 1901
		September 18, 1901	May 6, 1902		Germán Riesco
		May 6, 1902	November 20, 1902
		November 20, 1902	April 4, 1903
	Ricardo Matte Pérez	April 4, 1903	September 1, 1903
		September 1, 1903	October 23, 1903
		October 23, 1903	January 10, 1904
		January 10, 1904	March 12, 1904
		March 12, 1904	April 12, 1904
	Joaquín Muñoz Hurtado	April 12, 1904	October 30, 1904
		October 30, 1904	March 18, 1905
		March 18, 1905	August 1, 1905
	Luis Uribe Orrego	August 1, 1905	October 21, 1905
		October 21, 1905	March 19, 1906
		March 19, 1906	May 7, 1906
		May 7, 1906	September 18, 1906
		September 18, 1906	October 29, 1906		Pedro Montt
		October 29, 1906	June 12, 1907
		June 12, 1907	October 25, 1907
		October 25, 1907	August 29, 1908
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	August 29, 1908	January 22, 1909
		January 22, 1909	June 15, 1909
		June 15, 1909	September 15, 1909
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	September 15, 1909	June 25, 1910
	Carlos Larraín Claro	June 25, 1910	December 23, 1910
		December 23, 1910	January 11, 1911		Ramón Barros Luco
		January 11, 1911	July 11, 1911
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	July 11, 1911	August 15, 1911
		August 15, 1911	January 23, 1912
		January 23, 1912	May 29, 1912
		May 29, 1912	August 8, 1912
		August 8, 1912	January 13, 1913
		January 13, 1913	November 16, 1913
		November 16, 1913	September 6, 1914
	[es]	September 6, 1914	December 15, 1914
		December 15, 1914	June 7, 1915
		June 7, 1915	December 23, 1915
		December 23, 1915	January 8, 1916		Juan Luis Sanfuentes
		January 8, 1916	July 1, 1916
	Jorge Boonen Rivera	July 1, 1916	November 20, 1916
		November 20, 1916	July 14, 1917
		July 14, 1917	October 13, 1917
		October 13, 1917	January 18, 1918
		January 18, 1918	April 22, 1918
		April 22, 1918	September 6, 1918
		September 6, 1918	November 28, 1918
		November 28, 1918	September 23, 1919
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	September 23, 1919	November 8, 1919
	Germán Ignacio Riesco Errázuriz	November 8, 1919	March 29, 1920
		March 29, 1920	June 16, 1920
	Pedro Opazo Letelier	June 16, 1920	July 1, 1920
		July 1, 1920	December 23, 1920
		December 23, 1920	May 12, 1921		Arturo Alessandri
	Enrique Balmaceda Toro	May 12, 1921	August 16, 1921
		August 16, 1921	November 3, 1921
		November 3, 1921	March 22, 1922
		March 22, 1922	April 1, 1922
	Roberto Sánchez García de la Huerta	April 1, 1922	August 29, 1922
		August 29, 1922	December 21, 1922
		December 21, 1922	January 12, 1923
		January 12, 1923	March 16, 1923
		March 16, 1923	June 15, 1923
	Luis Altamirano Talavera	June 15, 1923	January 4, 1924
		January 4, 1924	February 1, 1924
		February 1, 1924	July 22, 1924
		July 22, 1924	September 5, 1924
	Juan Pablo Bennett Argandoña	September 5, 1924	September 11, 1924
	Luis Gómez Carreño	September 12, 1924	December 19, 1924		September Junta

Ministers of War[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
		December 19, 1924	January 23, 1925		September Junta
	Carlos Ibáñez del Campo	January 29, 1925	February 22, 1927		January Junta
		February 22, 1927	May 23, 1927		Emiliano Figueroa
	Carlos Frödden Lorenzen	May 23, 1927	June 21, 1927	Minister of National Defense	Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
	Bartolomé Blanche Espejo	June 21, 1927	November 7, 1930
		November 7, 1930	July 26, 1931
	Carlos Sáez Morales	July 26, 1931	August 14, 1931	Appointed by	Pedro Opazo
				Reappointed by	Juan Esteban Montero
	Enrique Bravo Ortiz	August 14, 1931	September 3, 1931
		September 3, 1931	March 5, 1932		Manuel Trucco

Ministers of Navy[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Luis Gómez Carreño	December 19, 1924	January 23, 1925		September Junta
		January 29, 1925	December 23, 1925		January Junta
		December 23, 1925	February 22, 1927		Emiliano Figueroa
	Carlos Frödden Lorenzen	February 22, 1927	May 23, 1927
		May 23, 1927	June 21, 1927	Minister of National Defense	Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
		June 21, 1927	August 5, 1930
		August 5, 1930	April 27, 1931
		April 27, 1931	July 26, 1931
		July 26, 1931	September 3, 1931	Appointed by	Pedro Opazo
				Reappointed by	Juan Esteban Montero
		September 3, 1931	March 5, 1932		Manuel Trucco

Ministers of National Defense (First Creation)[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
		March 9, 1932	April 7, 1932		Juan Esteban Montero
		April 7, 1932	June 4, 1932
	Marmaduque Grove Vallejo	June 5, 1932	June 17, 1932		Socialist Junta
	Arturo Puga Osorio	June 17, 1932	July 8, 1932

Ministers of War and Aviation[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
		July 8, 1932	September 14, 1932		Carlos Dávila
	Luis Otero Mujica	September 14, 1932	October 3, 1932		Bartolomé Blanche
	Carlos Sáez Morales	October 3, 1932	December 24, 1932		Abraham Oyanedel

Ministers of Navy[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
		July 8, 1932	August 12, 1932		Carlos Dávila
		August 12, 1932	August 13, 1932
		August 13, 1932	October 3, 1932
		October 3, 1932	December 24, 1932		Abraham Oyanedel

Ministers of National Defense (Second Creation, 1932-1990)[]

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Emilio Bello Codecido	December 24, 1932	April 9, 1938		Arturo Alessandri
		April 9, 1938	September 25, 1938	Interim
	Emilio Bello Codecido	September 25, 1938	December 24, 1938
	Alberto Cabero Díaz	December 24, 1938	April 13, 1939		Pedro Aguirre Cerda
		April 13, 1939	December 26, 1939
	Alfredo Duhalde Vásquez	December 26, 1939	October 24, 1940
		October 24, 1940	June 10, 1941
		June 10, 1941	November 21, 1941
		November 21, 1941	April 2, 1942		Jerónimo Méndez
	Alfredo Duhalde Vásquez	April 2, 1942	1944		Juan Antonio Ríos
		1944	1945
		1945	1946
		1946	April, 1947		Gabriel González Videla
		April, 1947	August, 1947
		August, 1947	November 3, 1952
		November 3, 1952	1954		Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
		1954	1955
		1955	1955
		1955	1957
		1957	November 3, 1958
	Luis Vidal Vargas	November 3, 1958	1958		Jorge Alessandri
	Carlos Vidal	1958	1961
		1961	1961
		1961	1963
	Carlos Vidal	1963	November 3, 1964
		November 3, 1964	1969		Eduardo Frei Montalva
		1969	1970
		1970	November 3, 1970
		November 3, 1970	January 7, 1972		Salvador Allende
	José Tohá González	January 7, 1972	July 5, 1973
	Clodomiro Almeyda Medina	July 5, 1973	August 9, 1973
	Carlos Prats González	August 9, 1973	August 23, 1973
	Orlando Letelier Del Solar	August 28, 1973	September 11, 1973
	Patricio Carvajal Prado	September 11, 1973	1974		Augusto Pinochet
	Oscar Bonilla Bradánovich	1974	1975
		1975	1978
	César Raúl Benavides	1978	1980
		1980	1982
		1982	1983
	Patricio Carvajal Prado	1983	March 11, 1990

Ministers of National Defense (1990-present)[]

	Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Party	Appointed by
		Patricio Rojas Saavedra	March 11, 1990	March 11, 1994	DC	Patricio Aylwin
		Edmundo Pérez Yoma	March 11, 1994	1998	DC	Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
		José Florencio Guzmán	1998	1998	DC
		Raúl Troncoso Castillo	1998	1999	DC
		Edmundo Pérez Yoma	1999	March 11, 2000	DC
		Mario Fernández Baeza	March 11, 2000	January 7, 2002	DC	Ricardo Lagos
		Michelle Bachelet Jeria	January 7, 2002	October 1, 2004	PS
		Jaime Ravinet De La Fuente	October 1, 2004	March 11, 2006	DC
		Vivianne Blanlot Soza	March 11, 2006	March 27, 2007	PPD	Michelle Bachelet
		José Goñi	March 27, 2007	March 12, 2009	PPD
		Francisco Vidal Salinas	March 12, 2009	March 11, 2010	PPD
		Jaime Ravinet de la Fuente	March 11, 2010	January 14, 2011	Ind.	Sebastián Piñera
		Andrés Allamand Zavala	January 16, 2011	November 5, 2012	RN
		Rodrigo Hinzpeter Kirgberg	November 5, 2012	March 11, 2014	RN
		Jorge Burgos Varela	March 11, 2014	May 11, 2015	DC	Michelle Bachelet
		José Antonio Gómez Urrutia	May 11, 2015	March 11, 2018	PR
		Alberto Espina Otero	March 11, 2018	July 28, 2020	RN	Sebastián Piñera
		Mario Desbordes Jiménez	July 28, 2020	Incumbent	RN

See also[]

• Military of Chile
• Defence Diplomacy

References[]

• República de Chile (1942). "VI. Poder Ejecutivo - Nómina de Gobernantes, Presidentes y Ministros desde la Independencia.". Manual del Senado. 1810-1942 (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Imprenta Universitaria. (in Spanish)
• Valencia Avaria, Luis (1986). Anales de la República: textos constitucionales de Chile y registro de los ciudadanos que han integrado los poderes ejecutivo y legislativo desde 1810 (in Spanish) (2ª edición ed.). Santiago de Chile: Editorial Andrés Bello. (in Spanish)

External links[]

• Official Website of the Ministry of Defense of Chile (in Spanish)