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	Maya Fernández, Minister of National Defense Cristián de la Maza Riquelme, Undersecretary of Defense Alfonso Vargas Lyng, Undersecretary of the Armed Forces
Child agency	National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE)
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.

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 17 March 1814, when then Supreme Director Francisco de la Lastra dictated the Constitutional Norms 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 23 October 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 1 February 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 8 July 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 28 October 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 15 April 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)

The main dependencies of the Ministry are:

• Subsecretariat of Defense: in charge of the defence policy

• National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE)

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

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

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	José Ignacio Zenteno del Pozo	18 February 1817	8 October 1820		Bernardo O'Higgins
	José Antonio Rodríguez Aldea	8 October 1820	7 January 1823	Secretary of War
	Joaquín Echeverría Larraín		28 January 1823	Secretary of Navy
	Fernando Elizalde	7 January 1823		Secretary of War
	Agustín Vial Santelices	28 January 1823	4 April 1823	Secretary of War	Government Junta
	Mariano Egaña Fabres			Secretary of Navy
	Juan de Dios Rivera	4 April 1823	12 July 1824		Ramón Freire
	Santiago Fernández Barriga	12 July 1824	22 February 1825
	José Ignacio Eyzaguirre Arechavala	22 February 1825	18 June 1825	Secretary of War
	Francisco Ramón Vicuña Larraín			Secretary of Navy
	Rafael Correa de Saa Lazón	18 June 1825	9 October 1825	Secretary of War
	Juan de Dios Vial del Río			Secretary of Navy
	José María Novoa López	9 October 1825	21 June 1826
	Tomás Obejero	21 June 1826	26 September 1826	Interim
	Luis de la Cruz y Goyeneche	26 September 1826	8 March 1827		Agustín Eyzaguirre
	José Manuel Borgoño Núñez y Silva	8 March 1827	16 July 1829		Ramón Freire
	José Santiago Muñoz Bezanilla	16 July 1829	9 November 1829		Francisco Ramón Vicuña
	José Antonio Pérez de Cotapos	9 November 1829	7 December 1829
	José María Benavente Bustamante	20 February 1830	25 September 1830	Appointed by	Francisco Ruiz-Tagle
				Reappointed by	José Tomás Ovalle
	José María de la Cruz Prieto	25 September 1830	24 March 1831	Appointed by
				Reappointed by	Fernando Errázuriz Aldunate
	Diego Portales Palazuelos	24 March 1831	31 August 1831	Appointed by
				Reappointed by	José Joaquín Prieto Vial
	Bartolomé Mujica	31 August 1831	19 September 1831	Secretary of War
	Manuel José Calderón			Secretary of Navy
	Diego Portales Palazuelos	19 September 1831	4 December 1832
	Ramón de la Cavareda Trucíos	4 December 1832	21 April 1835
	Diego Portales Palazuelos	21 April 1835	7 June 1836
	Ramón de la Cavareda Trucíos	7 June 1836	27 March 1841
	Manuel Montt Torres	27 March 1841	18 September 1841	Interim
	José María de la Cruz Prieto	18 September 1841	20 April 1842		Manuel Bulnes Prieto
	José Santiago Aldunate Toro	20 April 1842	18 September 1846
	José Manuel Borgoño Núñez	18 September 1846	8 April 1848
	Pedro Nolasco Vidal	8 April 1848	18 September 1851
	José Francisco Gana	18 September 1851	13 January 1853		Manuel Montt Torres
	Pedro Nolasco Vidal	13 January 1853	18 September 1856
	José Francisco Gana	18 September 1856	29 September 1857
	Manuel García Banqueda	29 September 1857	9 July 1862	Appointed by
				Reappointed by	José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano
	Marcos Maturana del Campo	9 July 1862	30 March 1865
	José Manuel Pinto Arias	30 March 1865	8 September 1866
	Federico Errázuriz Zañartu	8 September 1866	13 November 1868
	Francisco Echaurren García-Huidobro	13 November 1868	2 August 1870
	José Ramón Lira Calvo	2 August 1870	18 September 1871
	Aníbal Pinto Garmendia	18 September 1871	3 April 1875		Federico Errázuriz Zañartu
	Ignacio Zenteno Gana	3 April 1875	19 April 1875
	Mariano Sánchez Fontecilla	19 April 1875	18 September 1876
	Belisario Prats Pérez	18 September 1876	27 October 1877		Aníbal Pinto
	Manuel García de la Huerta Pérez	27 October 1877	5 August 1878
	Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez	5 August 1878	17 April 1879
	Basilio Urrutia Vásquez	17 April 1879	20 August 1879
	Rafael Sotomayor Baeza	20 August 1879	16 June 1880
	Eusebio Lillo Robles	16 June 1880	15 July 1880
	José Francisco Vergara Echevers	15 July 1880	18 September 1881
	Carlos Castellón Larenas	18 September 1881	18 January 1884		Domingo Santa María
	Patricio Lynch y Solo de Zaldívar	18 January 1884	7 May 1884
	Carlos Antúnez González	7 May 1884	18 September 1886
	Evaristo Sánchez Fontecilla	18 September 1886	30 November 1886		José Manuel Balmaceda
	Nicolás Peña Vicuña	30 November 1886	28 June 1887
	Manuel García de la Huerta Pérez	28 June 1887	13 April 1888
	Evaristo Sánchez Fontecilla	13 April 1888	2 November 1888
	Ramón Donoso Vergara	2 November 1888	1 May 1889
	José Miguel Valdés Carrera	1 May 1889	11 June 1889
	Abraham König Velásquez	11 June 1889	23 October 1889
	Ismael Valdés Valdés	23 October 1889	7 November 1889
	Luis Barros Borgoño	7 November 1889	21 January 1890
	José Velásquez Bórquez	21 January 1890	7 August 1890
	Federico Errázuriz Echaurren	7 August 1890	15 October 1890
	José Francisco Gana Castro	15 October 1890	29 March 1891
	José Velásquez Bórquez	29 March 1891	29 August 1891
	Adolfo Holley Urzúa	7 September 1891	26 December 1891		Revolutionary Junta of Iquique
	Ventura Blanco Viel	26 December 1891	14 March 1892		Jorge Montt
	Luis Barros Borgoño	14 March 1892	9 July 1892
	Luis Arteaga	9 July 1892	22 September 1892
	Francisco Antonio Pinto Cruz	22 September 1892	22 April 1893
	Isidoro Errázuriz	22 April 1893	8 August 1893
	Manuel Villamil Blanco	8 August 1893	6 October 1893
	Juan Antonio Orrego	6 October 1893	26 April 1894
	Santiago Aldunate Bascuñan	26 April 1894	7 December 1894
	Carlos Rivera Jofré	7 December 1894	1 August 1895
	Ismael Valdés Valdés	1 August 1895	24 November 1895
	Luis Barros Borgoño	24 November 1895	18 September 1896
	Manuel Bulnes Pinto	18 September 1896	26 November 1896		Federico Errázuriz Echaurren
	Elías Fernández Albano	26 November 1896	26 June 1897
	Benjamín Vergara	26 June 1897	25 August 1897
	Carlos Palacios Zapata	25 August 1897	23 December 1897
	Patricio Larraín Alcalde	23 December 1897	5 May 1898
	Ventura Blanco Viel	5 May 1898	19 December 1898
	Carlos Concha Subercaseaux	19 December 1898	27 June 1899
	Javier Angel Figueroa Larraín	27 June 1899	2 September 1899
	Carlos Concha Subercaseaux	2 September 1899	27 November 1899
	Ricardo Matte Pérez	27 November 1899	3 November 1900
	Arturo Besa Navarro	3 November 1900	14 March 1901
	Vicente Palacios Baeza	14 March 1901	1 May 1901
	Wenceslao Bulnes	1 May 1901	18 September 1901
	Beltrán Mathieu Andrews	18 September 1901	6 May 1902		Germán Riesco
	Víctor Manuel Lamas	6 May 1902	20 November 1902
	Francisco Baeza	20 November 1902	4 April 1903
	Ricardo Matte Pérez	4 April 1903	1 September 1903
	Carlos Besa Navarro	1 September 1903	23 October 1903
	Luis Barros Méndez	23 October 1903	10 January 1904
	Aníbal Cruz Díaz	10 January 1904	12 March 1904
	Ascanio Bascuñan Santa María	12 March 1904	12 April 1904
	Joaquín Muñoz Hurtado	12 April 1904	30 October 1904
	Ascanio Bascuñan Santa María	30 October 1904	18 March 1905
	Ramón Corvalán Melgarejo	18 March 1905	1 August 1905
	Luis Uribe Orrego	1 August 1905	21 October 1905
	Manuel Fóster Recabarren	21 October 1905	19 March 1906
	Manuel Covarrubias	19 March 1906	7 May 1906
	Salvador Vergara	7 May 1906	18 September 1906
	Belisario Prats Bello	18 September 1906	29 October 1906		Pedro Montt
	José Francisco Fabres	29 October 1906	12 June 1907
	Alejandro Lira	12 June 1907	25 October 1907
	Belisario Prats Bello	25 October 1907	29 August 1908
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	29 August 1908	22 January 1909
	Darío Zañartu del Río	22 January 1909	15 June 1909
	Roberto Huneeus Gana	15 June 1909	15 September 1909
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	15 September 1909	25 June 1910
	Carlos Larraín Claro	25 June 1910	23 December 1910
	Arístides Pinto Concha	23 December 1910	11 January 1911		Ramón Barros Luco
	Ramón León Luco	11 January 1911	11 July 1911
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	11 July 1911	15 August 1911
	Alejandro Huneeus García-Huidobro	15 August 1911	23 January 1912
	Alejandro Rosselot	23 January 1912	29 May 1912
	Luis Devoto	29 May 1912	8 August 1912
	Claudio Vicuña Subercaseaux	8 August 1912	13 January 1913
	Jorge Matte Gormaz	13 January 1913	16 November 1913
	Ramón Corvalán Melgarejo	16 November 1913	6 September 1914
	Alfredo Barros Errázuriz [es]	6 September 1914	15 December 1914
	Ricardo Cox Méndez	15 December 1914	7 June 1915
	Guillermo Soublette	7 June 1915	23 December 1915
	Salvador Vergara	23 December 1915	8 January 1916		Juan Luis Sanfuentes
	Cornelio Saavedra Montt	8 January 1916	1 July 1916
	Jorge Boonen Rivera	1 July 1916	20 November 1916
	Oscar Urzúa Jaramillo	20 November 1916	14 July 1917
	Pedro Nicolás Montenegro	14 July 1917	13 October 1917
	Oscar Viel Cavero	13 October 1917	18 January 1918
	Luis Vicuña Cifuentes	18 January 1918	22 April 1918
	Jorge Valdivieso Blanco	22 April 1918	6 September 1918
	Víctor Robles	6 September 1918	28 November 1918
	Enrique Bermúdez de la Paz	28 November 1918	23 September 1919
	Aníbal Rodríguez Herrera	23 September 1919	8 November 1919
	Germán Ignacio Riesco Errázuriz	8 November 1919	29 March 1920
	Régulo Valenzuela	29 March 1920	16 June 1920
	Pedro Opazo Letelier	16 June 1920	1 July 1920
	Ladislao Errázuriz Lazcano	1 July 1920	23 December 1920
	Carlos Silva Cruz	23 December 1920	12 May 1921		Arturo Alessandri
	Enrique Balmaceda Toro	12 May 1921	16 August 1921
	Remigio Medina	16 August 1921	3 November 1921
	Samuel Claro Lastarria	3 November 1921	22 March 1922
	Ignacio Marchant Scott	22 March 1922	1 April 1922
	Roberto Sánchez García de la Huerta	1 April 1922	29 August 1922
	Hernán Correa Roberts	29 August 1922	21 December 1922
	José Onofre Bunster Villagra	21 December 1922	12 January 1923
	Gustavo Silva Campo	12 January 1923	16 March 1923
	Jorge Andrés Guerra Álvarez de Toledo	16 March 1923	15 June 1923
	Luis Altamirano Talavera	15 June 1923	4 January 1924
	Alfredo Ewing	4 January 1924	1 February 1924
	Luis Brieba	1 February 1924	22 July 1924
	Luis Gaspar Mora Sotomayor	22 July 1924	5 September 1924
	Juan Pablo Bennett Argandoña	5 September 1924	11 September 1924
	Luis Gómez Carreño	12 September 1924	19 December 1924		September Junta

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

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Luis Gómez Carreño	19 December 1924	23 January 1925		September Junta
	Braulio Bahamonde	29 January 1925	23 December 1925		January Junta
	Arturo Swett Otaegui	23 December 1925	22 February 1927		Emiliano Figueroa
	Carlos Frödden Lorenzen	22 February 1927	23 May 1927
		23 May 1927	21 June 1927	Minister of National Defense	Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
		21 June 1927	5 August 1930
	Edgardo von Schröeders Sarratea	5 August 1930	27 April 1931
	Hipólito Marchant Morales	27 April 1931	26 July 1931
	Calisto Rogers Ceas	26 July 1931	3 September 1931	Appointed by	Pedro Opazo
				Reappointed by	Juan Esteban Montero
	Enrique Spoerer Jardel	3 September 1931	5 March 1932		Manuel Trucco

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

Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Notes	Appointed by
	Emilio Bello Codecido	24 December 1932	9 April 1938		Arturo Alessandri
	Francisco Garcés Gana	9 April 1938	25 September 1938	Interim
	Emilio Bello Codecido	25 September 1938	24 December 1938
	Alberto Cabero Díaz	24 December 1938	13 April 1939		Pedro Aguirre Cerda
	Guillermo Labarca Hubertson	13 April 1939	26 December 1939
	Alfredo Duhalde Vásquez	26 December 1939	24 October 1940
	Juvenal Hernández Jaque	24 October 1940	10 June 1941
	Carlos Valdovinos Valdovinos	10 June 1941	21 November 1941
	Juvenal Hernández Jaque	21 November 1941	2 April 1942		Jerónimo Méndez
	Alfredo Duhalde Vásquez	2 April 1942	1944		Juan Antonio Ríos
	Oscar Escudero Otarola	1944	1945
	Arnaldo Carrasco	1945	1946
	Manuel Bulnes Sanfuentes	1946	April 1947		Gabriel González Videla
	Juvenal Hernández Jaque	April 1947	August 1947
	Guillermo Barrios Tirado	August 1947	3 November 1952
	Abdón Parra	3 November 1952	1954		Carlos Ibáñez del Campo
	Tobías Barros Ortiz	1954	1955
	Benjamín Videla	1955	1955
	Francisco O'Ryan Orrego	1955	1957
	Adrián Barrientos	1957	3 November 1958
	Luis Vidal Vargas	3 November 1958	1958		Jorge Alessandri
	Carlos Vial Infante	1958	1961
	Joaquín Fernández y Fernández	1961	1961
	Julio Pereira	1961	1963
	Carlos Vial Infante	1963	3 November 1964
	Juan De Dios Carmona	3 November 1964	1969		Eduardo Frei Montalva
	Tulio Marambio	1969	1970
	Sergio Ossa Pretot	1970	3 November 1970
	Alejandro Ríos Valdivia	3 November 1970	7 January 1972		Salvador Allende
	José Tohá González	7 January 1972	5 July 1973
	Clodomiro Almeyda Medina	5 July 1973	9 August 1973
	Carlos Prats González	9 August 1973	23 August 1973
	Orlando Letelier Del Solar	28 August 1973	11 September 1973
	Patricio Carvajal Prado	11 September 1973	1974		Augusto Pinochet
	Oscar Bonilla Bradánovich	1974	1975
	Hermán Brady Roche	1975	1978
	César Raúl Benavides	1978	1980
	Carlos Forestier Hansen	1980	1982
	Washington Carrasco Fernández	1982	1983
	Patricio Carvajal Prado	1983	11 March 1990

	Picture	Name	Entered Office	Exited Office	Party	Appointed by
		Patricio Rojas Saavedra	11 March 1990	11 March 1994	DC	Patricio Aylwin
		Edmundo Pérez Yoma	11 March 1994	1998	DC	Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle
		José Florencio Guzmán	1998	1998	DC
		Raúl Troncoso Castillo	1998	1999	DC
		Edmundo Pérez Yoma	1999	11 March 2000	DC
		Mario Fernández Baeza	11 March 2000	7 January 2002	DC	Ricardo Lagos
		Michelle Bachelet Jeria	7 January 2002	1 October 2004	PS
		Jaime Ravinet De La Fuente	1 October 2004	11 March 2006	DC
		Vivianne Blanlot Soza	11 March 2006	27 March 2007	PPD	Michelle Bachelet
		José Goñi	27 March 2007	12 March 2009	PPD
		Francisco Vidal Salinas	12 March 2009	11 March 2010	PPD
		Jaime Ravinet de la Fuente	11 March 2010	14 January 2011	Ind.	Sebastián Piñera
		Andrés Allamand Zavala	16 January 2011	5 November 2012	RN
		Rodrigo Hinzpeter Kirgberg	5 November 2012	11 March 2014	RN
		Jorge Burgos Varela	11 March 2014	11 May 2015	DC	Michelle Bachelet
		José Antonio Gómez Urrutia	11 May 2015	11 March 2018	PR
		Alberto Espina Otero	11 March 2018	28 July 2020	RN	Sebastián Piñera
		Mario Desbordes Jiménez	28 July 2020	18 December 2020	RN
		Baldo Prokurica	18 December 2020	11 March 2022	RN
		Maya Fernández	11 March 2022	Incumbent	PS	Gabriel Boric

• Military of Chile
• Defence Diplomacy

• 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)

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