# Ministry of National Defense (Colombia)

The Ministry of National Defence (Spanish: Ministerio de Defensa Nacional) is the national executive ministry of the Government of Colombia charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military forces of Colombia, similar to the defense ministries in other countries. It is composed of the National Army, Navy, Aerospace Force and the National Police.

## List of ministers
### War

| Minister (a) | Period |
| Gral. Pedro Briceño Méndez | 1821–1825 |
| Gral. Carlos Soublette | 1825–1828 |
| Gral. Rafael Urdaneta | 1828–1829 |
| Gral. Pedro Alcántara Herrán | 1830 |
| Gral. José Miguel Pey | 1830–1831 |
| Gral. José Marìa Obando | 1831–1832 |
| Gral. José Hilario López | 1832–1833 |
| Gral. Antonio Obando | 1833–1837 |
| Gral. José Hilario López | 1837–1838 |
| Gral. Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera | 1838–1840 |
| Gral. José Acevedo | 1841–1845 |
| Gral. Joaquín París Ricaurte | 1845 |
| Gral. Juan María Gómez | 1845–1846 |
| Gral. Joaquín Barriga | 1846–1849 |
| Gral. Tomás Herrera | 1849–1850 |
| Gral. Valerio Barriga | 1851–1853 |
| Cnel. Santiago Frasser | 1853 |
| Gral. Pedro Alcántara Herrán | 1854–1855 |
| Gral. José María Ortega | 1856–1861 |
| Gral. Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera | 1861–1863 |
| Gral. Rafael Mendoza | 1864 |
| Gral. Francisco Barriga | 1864–1866 |
| Gral. Rudesindo López | 1866–1867 |
| Gral. Sergio Camargo Pinzón | 1868–1870 |
| Gral. Santos Acosta | 1871–1872 |
| Gral. Ramón Santodomingo Vila | 1873–1875 |
| Gral. Santos Acosta | 1875–1876 |
| Gral. Fernando Ponce | 1877 |
| Gral. Ezequiel Hurtado | 1878–1879 |
| Gral. Eliseo Payan | 1880–1882 |
| Gral. Juan Mateus | 1882–1884 |
| Gral. José María Campo | 1884–1886 |
| Gral. Leopoldo Cuervo | 1887–1890 |
| Gral. Olegario Rivera | 1890–1892 |
| Gral. Antonio Cuervo | 1893–1895 |
| Gral. Pedro Rivera | 1896–1898 |
| Gral. Jorge Holguin | 1899 |
| Gral. José Santos | 1900 |
| Gral. Próspero Pinzón Romero | 1900 |
| Gral. José Domingo Ospina | 1900–1901 |
| Gral. Ramón González Valencia | 1901 |
| Gral. Pedro Nel Ospina | 1901 |
| José Vicente Concha Ferreira | 1901–1902 |
| Gral. Aristides Fernández Mora | 1902–1903 |
| Gral. Alfredo Vásquez Cobo | 1903–1904 |
| Gral. Diego Castro | 1904–1905 |
| Gral. Diego Euclides de Angulo | 1905–1906 |
| Manuel Castro | 1906 |
| Gral. Manuel María Sanclemente | 1906–1908 |
| Gral. Víctor Calderón | 1908–1909 |
| Gral. Nicolás Perdomo | 1909 |
| Gral. Alfredo Vásquez Cobo | 1909 |
| Gral. Jorge Marcelo Holguín Mallarino | 1909 |
| Gral. Diego Euclides de Angulo | 1909 |
| Gral. Luis Enrique Bonilla | 1909 |
| Gral. Pedro Rivera | 1909 |
| José Medina Calderón | 1909–1910 |
| Juan Bautista Valencia | 1910 |
| Gral. Mariano Ospina Vásquez | 1910–1911 |
| Gral. José Manuel Araújo | 1911–1914 |
| Gral. Isaías Luján | 1914–1915 |
| Guillermo Valencia Castillo | 1915 |
| Gral. Pedro Justo Berrío | 1915 |
| Antonio José Cadavid | 1915–1916 |
| Gral. Salvador Franco | 1916–1918 |
| Jorge Roa | 1918–1921 |
| Bonifacio Vélez | 1921 |
| Aristóbulo Archila | 1921–1922 |
| Carlos Vélez Daníes | 1922 |
| José Ulises Osorio | 1922–1923 |
| Gral. Alfonso Jaramillo | 1923–1924 |
| Gral. Carlos Jaramillo Isaza | 1924–1925 |
| Francisco Solórzano | 1925–1926 |
| Ignacio Rengifo | 1926–1929 |
| Alejandro Cabal Pombo | 1929 |
| Gral. José Joaquín Villamizar | 1929 |
| Gral. Agustín Morales Olaya | 1929–1931 |
| Carlos Adolfo Urueta | 1931–1932 |
| Carlos Arango Vélez | 1932–1934 |
| Cptán. Carlos Uribe Gaviria | 1934 |
| Alberto Pumarejo | 1934 |
| Marco Aurelio Auli | 1934–1935 |
| Benito Hernandez Bustos | 1935–1936 |
| Plinio Mendoza Neira | 1936–1937 |
| Alberto Pumarejo | 1937–1938 |
| José Joaquín Castro Martínez | 1938–1939 |
| Gonzalo Restrepo | 1939–1942 |
| Alejandro Galvis Galvis | 1942–1943 |
| Ramón Santodomingo | 1943 |
| Alberto Arango Tavera | 1943 |
| Gonzalo Restrepo | 1943–1944 |
| Gral. Domingo Espinel | 1944–1945 |
| Luis Tamayo | 1945–1946 |
| Carlos Sánz de Santamaría | 1946–1947 |
| Fabio Lozano y Lozano | 1947–1948 |
| Fernando Londoño y Londoño | 1948 |
| Teniente General Germán Ocampo Herrera | 1948–1949 |
| Eduardo Zuleta Àngel | 1949 |
| Gral. Rafael Sánchez Amaya | 1949–1950 |
| Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez | 1950–1951 |
| José María Bernal | 1951–1953 |
| Lucio Pabón Núñez | 1953 |
| Gral. Gustavo Berrío | 1953–1954 |
| Gral. Gabriel París Gordillo | 1954–1957 |
| Gral. Alfonso Saiz | 1957–1959 |
| Gral. Rafael Hernández | 1959–1962 |
| Gral. Alberto Ruiz Novoa | 1962–1965 |
| Gral. Gabriel Rebeiz | 1965–1967 |

### National defence

| Order | Name | Took Office | President appointed by |
| 1st | Gabriel Rebeiz Pizarro | 1 January 1966 | Guillermo León Valencia |
| 2nd | Gerardo Ayerbe Chaux | 2 September 1968 | Carlos Lleras Restrepo |
| 3rd | Hernando Currea Cubides | 7 August 1970 | Misael Pastrana Borrero |
| 4th | Abraham Varón Valencia | 7 August 1974 | Alfonso López Michelsen |
| 5th | Luis Carlos Camacho Leyva | 7 August 1978 | Julio César Turbay |
| 6th | Fernando Landazábal Reyes | 7 August 1982 | Belisario Betancur |
| 7th | Gustavo Matamoros D'Costa | 20 January 1984 | Belisario Betancur |
| 8th | Miguel Vega Uribe | 9 January 1985 | Belisario Betancur |
| 9th | Rafael Samudio Molina | 7 August 1986 | Virgilio Barco |
| 10th | Manuel Jaime Guerrero Paz | 8 November 1988 | Virgilio Barco |
| 11th | Oscar Botero Restrepo | 7 August 1990 | César Gaviria |
| 12th | Rafael Pardo Rueda | 7 August 1991 | César Gaviria |
| 13th | Fernando Botero Zea | 7 August 1994 | Ernesto Samper |
| 14th | Juan Carlos Esguerra Portocarrero | 7 August 1995 | Ernesto Samper |
| 15th | Guillermo Alberto González Mosquera | 4 February 1997 | Ernesto Samper |
| 16th | Gilberto Echeverri Mejía | 10 April 1997 | Ernesto Samper |
| 17th | Rodrigo Lloreda Caicedo | 7 August 1998 | Andrés Pastrana |
| 18th | Luis Fernando Ramirez Acuña | 30 May 1998 | Andrés Pastrana |
| 19th | Gustavo Bell | 11 June 2001 | Andrés Pastrana |
| 20th | Marta Lucía Ramírez | 7 August 2002 | Álvaro Uribe |
| 21st | Jorge Alberto Uribe Echavarría | 9 November 2003 | Álvaro Uribe |
| 22nd | Camilo Alfonso Ospina Bernal | 19 July 2005 | Álvaro Uribe |
| 23rd | Juan Manuel Santos | 19 July 2006 | Álvaro Uribe |
| — | Freddy Padilla de León | 23 May 2009 | Álvaro Uribe |
| 24th | Gabriel Silva Luján | 7 August 2009 | Álvaro Uribe |
| 25th | Rodrigo Rivera Salazar | 7 August 2010 | Juan Manuel Santos |
| 26th | Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno | 5 September 2011 | Juan Manuel Santos |
| 27th | Luis Carlos Villegas Echeverri | 19 May 2015 | Juan Manuel Santos |
| 28th | Guillermo Botero | 7 August 2018 | Iván Duque |
| 29th | Carlos Holmes Trujillo | 12 November 2019 | Iván Duque |
| 30th | Diego Molano | 1 February 2021 | Iván Duque |
| 31st | Iván Velásquez Gómez | 7 August 2022 | Gustavo Petro |