# Chief of the General Staff (Guatemala)

The Chief of the General Staff (Spanish: Jefe del Estado Mayor) is the professional head of the Guatemalan Armed Forces. They are responsible for the administration and operational control of the military. It is the highest achievable commissioned officer rank that may be attained in the Guatemalan Armed Forces.

## List of officeholders
### General Staff of the Army (5 September 1968–23 March 1983)

| No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office |
| No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | | Brigadier general Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García (1930–2009) | July 1970 | July 1972 | 2 years |
| 2 | | Brigadier general Fausto David Rubio Coronado | July 1972 | January 1973 | 6 months |
| 3 | | Brigadier general Efraín Ríos Montt (1926–2018) | January 1973 | April 1973 | 3 months |
| 4 | | Brigadier general Fernando Romeo Lucas García (1924–2006) | July 1973 | July 1976 | 3 years |
| 5 | | Otto Guillermo Spliegler Noriega | July 1976 | February 1977 | 7 months |
| 6 | | Divisional general David Cancinos Barrios (1920–1979) | February 1977 | 11 June 1979 | 2 years, 4 months |
| 7 | | Ángel Aníbal Guevara (born 1924) | June 1979 | January 1980 | 7 months |
| 8 | | Luís René Mendoza Palomo | January 1980 | June 1981 | 1 year, 5 months |
| 9 | | Manuel Benedicto Lucas García | 15 August 1981 | 24 March 1982 | 6 months |
| 10 | | Héctor Mario López Fuentes (1930–2015) | March 1982 | October 1983 | 1 year, 6 months |

### National Defense Staff (23 March 1983–present)

| Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Defence branch | Ref. |
| Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Defence branch | Ref. |
| | Divisional general Rodolfo Lobos Zamora | October 1983 | September 1985 | 1 year, 11 months | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Brigadier general Héctor Gramajo (1940–2004) | January 1986 | February 1987 | 1 year, 1 month | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Brigadier general Hellmuth René Casados Ramírez | 14 January 2012 | 4 June 2013 | 1 year, 141 days | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Divisional general Manuel Augusto López Ambrocio | 4 June 2013 | 16 July 2013 | 42 days | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Divisional general Rudy Ortiz (1963–2014) | 16 July 2013 | 20 August 2014 † | 1 year, 35 days | Guatemalan Air Force | |
| | Divisional general Carlos Eduardo Estrada Pérez (born 1936) | 27 August 2014 | 31 July 2015 | 338 days | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Brigadier general Alfredo Sosa Díaz | 31 July 2015 | 22 January 2016 | 175 days | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Divisional general Juan Manuel Pérez Ramírez | 22 January 2016 | 1 August 2017 | 1 year, 191 days | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Divisional general Erick Cano Zamora | 1 August 2017 | 6 March 2018 | 217 days | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Divisional general Julio César Paz Bone (born 1966) | 6 March 2018 | 21 June 2019 | 1 year, 107 days | Guatemalan Air Force | |
| | Brigadier general Hugo Roberto Urbina Marroquín | 15 January 2020 | 19 December 2020 | ? | Guatemalan Army | |
| | Brigadier general Walfre Omar Carranza España | 19 December 2020 | 31 May 2022 | 1 year, 163 days | Guatemalan Air Force | |
| | Brigadier general William Arnulfo López | 19 December 2020 | Incumbent | 2 years, 147 days | Guatemalan Army | |