The Minister of National Defense of El Salvador () is a Salvadoran cabinet minister who serves as the head of the Ministry of National Defense of El Salvador. The position of Minister of National Defense is typically held by an officer of the Armed Forces of El Salvador.

List of ministers

The following table lists all the individuals who held the office of Minister of National Defense.

Portrait Name Term of office Branch/political party President(s) Took office Left office Time in office 1 Cruz Ulloa 29 March 1856 30 April 1856 Conservative Rafael Campo Office vacant (30 April 1856 – 1 February 1858) 2 Ignacio Gómez 1 February 1858 24 February 1858 Conservative Miguel Santín del Castillo 3 Cayetano Bosque 24 February 1858 21 November 1858 Liberal 4 José Trinidad Cabañas 26 November 1858 5 February 1859 Liberal/Army Office vacant (5 February 1859 – 20 December 1859) 5 José Félix Quirós 20 December 1859 6 June 1860 Independent Gerardo Barrios Office vacant (6 June 1860 – 5 March 1861) 6 Eugenio Aguilar 5 March 1861 24 March 1863 Liberal Gerardo Barrios Office vacant (24 March 1863 – 27 October 1863) 7 Juan Delgado y San Juan 27 October 1863 2 February 1865 Conservative Francisco Dueñas Office vacant (2 February 1865 – 1 February 1871) 8 Rafael Zaldívar 1 February 1871 12 April 1871 Liberal Francisco Dueñas Office vacant (12 April 1871 – 2 January 1877) 9 Fabio Morán 2 January 1877 30 November 1877 Army Rafael Zaldívar Office vacant (30 November 1877 – 1 January 1884) 10 Adán Mora 1 January 1884 14 May 1885 Army Rafael Zaldívar Office vacant (14 May 1885 – 2 June 1887) 11 Carlos Ezeta 2 June 1887 15 August 1888 Liberal/Army Francisco Menéndez 12 Pedro José Escalón 18 August 1888 20 October 1889 Liberal/Army Office vacant (20 October 1889 – 1 January 1891) 13 Antonio Ezeta 1 January 1891 31 March 1891 Liberal/Army Carlos Ezeta 14 Valentín Amaya 31 March 1891 23 January 1892 Army 15 Domingo Angulo 24 January 1892 14 November 1892 Liberal 14 Valentín Amaya 1 January 1893 10 June 1894 Army Office vacant (10 June 1894 – 4 March 1897) 16 Juan Francisco Castro 4 March 1897 27 September 1897 Liberal Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez 17 Rafael Severo López 28 September 1897 13 November 1898 Liberal 18 Tomás Regalado 14 November 1898 12 September 1900 Army/Liberal Himself Office vacant (12 September 1900 – 7 January 1901) 18 Tomás Regalado 7 January 1901 1 March 1903 Army/Liberal Himself 19 Fernando Figueroa 1 March 1903 10 September 1907 Army/Liberal Pedro José Escalón Himself Office vacant (10 September 1907 – 1 March 1911) 20 José María Peralta Lagos 1 March 1911 14 February 1913 Army Manuel Enrique Araujo 21 Francisco Martínez Suárez 14 February 1913 8 July 1913 Liberal Carlos Meléndez 22 Alfonso Quiñónez Molina 8 July 1913 29 August 1914 Liberal 23 Pío Romero Bosque 29 August 1914 1 March 1915 Liberal Alfonso Quiñónez Molina 24 Luis Alonso Barahona 1 March 1915 20 October 1915 Army Carlos Meléndez 25 Enrique Córdova 20 October 1915 1 March 1919 Liberal 23 Pío Romero Bosque 1 March 1919 1 March 1927 National Democratic Party Jorge Meléndez Alfonso Quiñónez Molina 26 Alberto Gómez Zárate 1 March 1927 19 May 1930 National Democratic Party Pío Romero Bosque 27 Pío Romero Bosque Molina 20 May 1930 1 March 1931 National Democratic Party 28 Maximiliano Hernández Martínez 1 March 1931 1 December 1931 Army/National Republican Party Arturo Araujo 29 Salvador López Rochac 1 December 1931 2 December 1931 Salvadoran Laborist Party – Osmín Aguirre y Salinas 2 December 1931 4 December 1931 Army Civic Directory – Joaquín Valdés 4 December 1931 2 April 1934 Army Maximiliano Hernández Martínez – Andrés Ignacio Menéndez 3 April 1934 28 August 1934 Army/National Pro Patria Party – Maximiliano Hernández Martínez 28 August 1934 1 March 1935 Army/National Pro Patria Party Andrés Ignacio Menéndez 30 Andrés Ignacio Menéndez 1 March 1935 9 May 1944 Army/National Pro Patria Party Maximiliano Hernández Martínez – Fidel Cristino Garay 9 May 1944 20 October 1944 Army/National Pro Patria Party Andrés Ignacio Menéndez – Salvador Peña Trejo 21 October 1944 1 March 1945 Army Osmín Aguirre y Salinas 31 Salvador Castaneda Castro 1 March 1945 31 March 1945 Army/Unification Social Democratic Party Himself 31 Mauro Espínola Castro 31 March 1945 14 December 1948 Army Salvador Castaneda Castro – Fidel Rodríguez Quintanilla 14 December 1948 14 September 1950 Army 32 Óscar Adán Bolaños 14 September 1950 10 December 1953 Army Óscar Osorio 33 Marco Antonio Molina 10 December 1953 14 September 1956 Army 34 Adán Parada 14 September 1956 20 October 1960 Army José María Lemus – Alonso Castillo Navarrete 20 October 1960 25 January 1961 Army Junta of Government – Armando Molina Mena 26 January 1961 9 May 1961 Army Civic-Military Directory – Óscar Rodríguez Simó 9 May 1961 18 November 1961 Army – Mariano Castro Morán 18 November 1961 24 January 1962 Army – Armando Díaz Liévano 24 January 1962 1 July 1962 Army Eusebio Rodolfo Cordón Cea 35 Marco Aurelio Zacapa 1 July 1962 1 July 1967 Army/National Conciliation Party Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo 36 Fidel Torres 1 July 1967 1 July 1972 Army/National Conciliation Party Fidel Sánchez Hernández 37 Carlos Humberto Romero 1 July 1972 1 July 1977 Army/National Conciliation Party Arturo Armando Molina 38 Federico Castillo Yanes 1 July 1977 15 October 1979 Army/National Conciliation Party Carlos Humberto Romero – José Guillermo García 15 October 1979 19 April 1983 Army Revolutionary Government Junta Álvaro Magaña 39 Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova 19 April 1983 1 June 1989 Army José Napoleón Duarte 40 Rafael Humberto Larios López 1 June 1989 31 August 1990 Army Alfredo Cristiani 41 René Emilio Ponce 31 August 1990 1 July 1993 Army 42 Humberto Corado Figueroa 1 July 1993 31 December 1995 Army Armando Calderón Sol 43 Jaime Mauricio Guzmán Morales 31 December 1995 31 December 1998 Army 44 Juan Antonio Martínez Várela 1 January 1999 1 June 2004 Air Force Francisco Flores Pérez 45 Otto Alejandro Romero Orellana 1 June 2004 31 December 2007 Army Antonio Saca 46 Jorge Alberto Molina Contreras 31 December 2007 1 June 2009 Army 47 David Munguía Payés 1 June 2009 23 November 2011 Army Mauricio Funes 48 Atilio Benítez 23 November 2011 12 July 2013 Army 47 David Munguía Payés 12 July 2013 1 June 2019 Army Salvador Sánchez Cerén 49 René Francis Merino Monroy 1 June 2019 Incumbent Navy Nayib Bukele

See also

President of El Salvador

References