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René Francis Merino Monroy (born 30 December 1963) is a Salvadoran
military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...
who currently serves as the
Minister of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...
. He was appointed to the position by President
Nayib Bukele Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez (; born 24 July 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who has served as the 81st president of El Salvador since 2019. In 1999, Bukele established an advertising company and worked at an advertising com ...
in June 2019, becoming the first officer from the Salvadoran Navy to serve as minister of defense. Merino entered the
Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School The Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School (Spanish language, Spanish: ), abbreviated as the EMCGGB, was a military academy in El Salvador. It was established in 1868 and is named after Captain General Gerardo Barrios who served as Pre ...
in 1986. He graduated in 1990 and was appointed to various administrative positions at the La Unión Naval Base and the Naval Force Headquarters. From 1995 to 2010, Merino transferred between various command positions and continued his military education both domestically and abroad. Merino held more administrative positions from 2011 to 2014 at the La Unión Naval Base and the Center for Naval Education and Instruction. He was the Chief of the Navy General Staff from January 2015 until his appointment to minister of defense in June 2019. As minister of defense, Merino has supported Bukele's security policies, most notably the implementations of both the
Territorial Control Plan The Territorial Control Plan (, abbreviated PCT) is an ongoing Salvadoran security and anti-gang program. The program consists of six phases and a potential seventh phase if phases one through six are unsuccessful. In 2019, the Salvadoran gov ...
, a government anti-crime and anti-gang security program, and the nationwide gang crackdown which has since resulted in the arrests of over 72,000 suspected gang members since March 2022. Merino was also involved in the 2020 political crisis when 40 soldiers were sent into the Legislative Assembly during an extraordinary session convened by Bukele. Merino's rank promotions to rear admiral in 2019 and vice admiral in 2020 resulted in controversy from lawyers regarding the maximum age for which military promotions are permitted by the Military Career Law.


Early life and education

René Francis Merino Monroy was born on 30 December 1963 in Santa Tecla,
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
. He entered the
Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School The Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School (Spanish language, Spanish: ), abbreviated as the EMCGGB, was a military academy in El Salvador. It was established in 1868 and is named after Captain General Gerardo Barrios who served as Pre ...
(EMCGGB) in Santa Tecla in January 1986. In June, he transferred to
Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...
in
Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...
, studying to be a naval cadet, and later returned to the EMCGGB in December. In February 1987, he transferred to the in
Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...
,
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, where he continued his studies to be a naval officer until December 1989 when he returned to the EMCGGB. He graduated from the military school in March 1990. From January to July 1995, he studied the
English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
at the Armed Forces Language Center. From January to June 1996, he studied advanced infantry at the
General Manuel José Arce Infantry School A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...
. He returned to the infantry school from January to June 2002 to study to become a member of the naval staff. From December 2002 to November 2004, Merino studied to become a member of the general staff at the Dr. Manuel Enrique Araujo Command and General Staff School. From July 2007 to June 2008, Merino continued his naval staff studies at the United States
Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...
. Merino returned to the Arturo Prat Naval School from February to November 2010 to continue his general staff studies.


Military career

Merino's first assignment was the La Unión Naval Base from March 1990 to December 1991 as a commander of the coast guard during the
Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War () was a twelve-year civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador, backed by the United States, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of left-wing guer ...
. Merino served in various administrative positions during his time with the navy, which included being the chief of the Captaincy Department at the Naval Force Headquarters from January 1992 to December 1993, the chief of the Department of Academic Development for the Center at Naval Education and Instruction from January to December 1994, and the chief of the Department of Captaincies at the General Staff of the Naval Force from August to December 1995. In July 1996, Merino was briefly a company commander at the EMCGGB before becoming a company commander for the S-3 Presidential Battalion, where he served from August 1996 to August 1999. From September to December 1999, Merino was the maritime patrol commander of the La Unión Naval Base. From January 2000 to December 2001 and again from July to November 2002, he was the General Director of Captaincies at the La Libertad Port. From December 2004 to July 2007, Merino served as the chief of studies at the Center for Naval Education and Instruction. From June 2008 to February 2009, Merino served as a company commander in the
Cuscatlán Battalion The Cuscatlán Battalion () was a military unit of the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) that participated in the Iraq War from 2003 to 2009. The Cuscatlán Battalion served under the Polish-led Multinational Division Central-South (MN–DCS) ...
XI Contingent during the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. After returning from
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, he resumed his post as the chief of studies at the Center for Naval Education and Instruction which he held from February to June 2009. From June 2009 to February 2010, Merino was a member of the N-III Fleet staff. From January 2011 to June 2012, Merino was the director of the Center for Naval Education and Instruction. He later commanded the La Unión Naval Base from July 2013 to June 2014 and was a fleet commander from July to December 2014. Merino was appointed as the Chief of the Navy General Staff in January 2015 where he served until June 2019.


Minister of National Defense

In May 2019, then President-elect
Nayib Bukele Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez (; born 24 July 1981) is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who has served as the 81st president of El Salvador since 2019. In 1999, Bukele established an advertising company and worked at an advertising com ...
announced that he would appoint Merino as his
minister of defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
. Opposition politicians from the
Nationalist Republican Alliance The Nationalist Republican Alliance (, abbreviated ARENA) is a conservative, center-right to right-wing political party of El Salvador. It was founded on 30 September 1981 by retired Salvadoran Army Major Roberto D'Aubuisson. It defines itse ...
and the
Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (, abbreviated FMLN) is a Salvadoran political party and former guerrilla rebel group. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on 10 October 1980, from five leftist guerrilla organizations; ...
questioned Bukele's decision to choose Merino as he held the rank of navy captain (equivalent of a
colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
) rather any rank equivalent to
general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
. Merino was sworn in as minister of defense on 1 June 2019, succeeding Divisional General
David Munguía Payés David Victoriano Munguía Payés is a former Salvadoran Army general who served as Minister of National Defense of El Salvador from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2013 to 2019. Biography David Victoriano Munguía Payés was the Director of t ...
. Merino was the first naval officer to assume the office. After Bukele's second inauguration on 1 June 2024, the Salvadoran government announced that all incumbent cabinet ministers, including Merino, would stay in office until further notice.


Security policies

Shortly after being sworn in as minister of defense, Merino promised that he would develop a strategy to combat crime and street gangs in El Salvador. On 20 June 2019, the Salvadoran government announced the beginning of the
Territorial Control Plan The Territorial Control Plan (, abbreviated PCT) is an ongoing Salvadoran security and anti-gang program. The program consists of six phases and a potential seventh phase if phases one through six are unsuccessful. In 2019, the Salvadoran gov ...
, a seven phase security program aimed at combating combating crime and street gangs. In March 2022, a spike of homicides occurred when 87 homicides were registered in a three day period. The Legislative Assembly convened an extraordinary session and approved the implementation of a 30-day "
state of exception A state of exception () is a concept introduced in the 1920s by the German philosopher, jurist and Nazi Party member Carl Schmitt, similar to a state of emergency (martial law) but based in the sovereign's ability to transcend the rule of law in t ...
" which suspending some constitutional rights, increasing the amount of time individuals could be detained without trial, and allowing the government to monitor citizens' communications without warrants. The ensuing gang crackdown, which has been extended 25 times , has led to the arrests of over 78,000 suspected gang members . In January 2023, Merino announced that the government registered 496 homicides in 2022, a 56.8 percent decrease from 1,147 homicides in 2021. He attributed the decrease in homicides to the gang crackdown. On 1 February 2023, Bukele posted a video to
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
showing him, Merino, General Director of Penal Centers Osiris Luna Meza, Director of the National Civil Police
Mauricio Arriaza Chicas Mauricio Antonio Arriaza Chicas (16 December 1964 – 8 September 2024) was a Salvadoran police officer who served as the director of the National Civil Police (PNC) of El Salvador from 2019 until his death in a helicopter crash in 2024. Ea ...
, and Minister of Public Works Romeo Herrera touring the
Terrorism Confinement Center The Terrorism Confinement Center ( [], ) is a maximum security prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador. The prison was built in late 2022 amid a Salvadoran gang crackdown, large-scale gang crackdown in the country. The Salvadoran government opened t ...
(CECOT), a prison with the capacity to hold 40,000 inmates. CECOT was built to incarcerate those arrested in the country's gang crackdown. During the tour, Merino presented the 1,000 guards, 600 soldiers, and 250 police officers which would be assigned to operate and secure the prison to Bukele. CECOT opened on 24 February 2023, and , the prison holds over 12,500 inmates. On 15 September 2022, Bukele announced his intention to seek re-election in the
2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...
. Merino expressed his support for Bukele's re-election bid, stating that "the re-election of President Bukele would permit him to continue with the security policies" ("").


Involvement in 9F

On 9 February 2020, Bukele ordered 40 soldiers to enter the Legislative Assembly meeting room after ordering an extraordinary legislative session to be held. Bukele did this amidst then-ongoing resistance from the Legislative Assembly to approve a US$109 million loan from the
Central American Bank for Economic Integration The Central American Bank for Economic Integration - CABEI ( BCIE in Spanish) was founded in 1960. It is an international multilateral development financial institution. Its resources are invested in projects that foster development to reduce pov ...
to fund the Territorial Control Plan. The event was described the incident as an attempted coup and a
self-coup A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The le ...
by the opposition. On 21 August 2020, the Legislative Assembly summon Merino to testify regarding the events of 9 February 2020, which has since been referred to in El Salvador by the
numeronym A numeronym is a word, usually an abbreviation, composed partially or wholly of numerals. The term can be used to describe several different number-based constructs, but it most commonly refers to a contraction in which all letters between the fir ...
"9F". Merino testified before the Legislative Assembly for 10 hours, during which, he stated he was ordered to send in the soldiers to provide security for the extraordinary session, but he refused to say who ordered him to do so. While being questioned by the Legislative Assembly, Merino stated that his purpose was to explain the use of soldiers and not to explain Bukele's "political act".


Promotions

In 2018, Merino sought promotion to the rank of
rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
. Article 13 of the Military Career Law prevented him from doing so as he was 55 years old and the law prohibited promotions in rank past that age. Instead, he would automatically enter reserve status. On 31 December 2019, Bukele promoted Merino to the rank of rear admiral. Lawyers argued that Merino's promotion was illegal as it violated article 13 of the Military Career Law. Merino defended his promotion, stating that "I didn't give it myself, they ordered it to me" (""). He added that "I submitted, like all my military promotion, to the pertinent evaluations, being evaluated by an evaluation and selection tribunal appointed in the previous administration" (""). On 31 December 2020, Bukele signed General Order No. 12/020 which promoted Merino to the rank of
vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...
, the highest rank in the Salvadoran Navy. Although the general order did not enter into effect until 1 January 2021, Merino began wearing vice admiral insignia the day the general order was signed.


COVID-19 pandemic

On 21 March 2020, the Salvadoran government implemented a mandatory 30-day nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
. The armed forces and the National Civil Police were responsible for enforcing the lockdowns. Merino publicly announced exceptions to the lockdown orders which were decided by the Salvadoran government. He told citizens to be ready to present their national identity documents to expedite the military's and police's processes in verifying that they qualify for the exceptions. In July 2020, Merino criticized the Legislative Assembly for refusing to allocate the government resources to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, warning that COVID-19 cases would only continue to rise. He also questioned the National Republican Alliance's proposal to implement quarantines within the country's
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
, arguing that the party had previously opposed Bukele's proposals to implement quarantines. On 30 September 2020, Merino signed Accord No. 136 which established the Nu Tanesi Star, a medal awarded for actions which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and
tropical storms Amanda and Cristobal Tropical Storm Amanda and Tropical Storm Cristobal were two related, consecutive tropical cyclones that affected Central America, southern Mexico, the Central United States, and Canada in late May and early June 2020. The first tropical cyc ...
. On 28 October 2020, he awarded the Nu Tanesi Star to ten ministry of defense officials, including himself. Merino defended receiving the award, stating that "I did not give it he awardto myself. It was given to me by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who did all the preparation, we only sign the document" (""). On 12 March 2021, Merino, Arriaza, and Minister of Health Francisco Alabí received a shipment of 33,600
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
s at the Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport which were delivered to the country by
UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
. Merino received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on 29 March 2021 at the San Salvador Military Hospital along with other officials of the ministry of defense. He also confirmed that over 13,800 members of the armed forces and National Civil Police had been vaccinated.


Personal life

Merino had a son,
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
Lieutenant Gerardo Antonio Merino Marroquín. During his tenure as Naval Chief of the General Staff, Merino was accused of having given favors to his son. On 11 September 2018, he was charged with
nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...
alleging that he acquired slots in the Trident group (the navy's elite unit) for his children, but the charges were never pursued. Merino's son and two other military personnel died on 2 December 2021 when their Beechcraft 58 Barron crashed into the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
.


Awards and decorations

Merino has received the following military awards. * 1980–1992 Military Campaign Medal * Gold Medal of Merit (x2) (1999 and 2009) * Mare Nostrum Medal * Nu Tanesi Star (2020) * Minerva Medal * Medal of Honor to Naval Merit (2015) * Medal of Honor


See also

*
Cabinet of Nayib Bukele The cabinet of Nayib Bukele formed on 1 June 2019 to serve as President Nayib Bukele's cabinet from 1 June 2019 until 1 June 2029. List of cabinet members Current cabinet members After Bukele's second inauguration on 1 June 2024, the Sa ...
* List of current defense ministers


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merino Monroy, Rene 1963 births Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School alumni Defence ministers of El Salvador Living people People from La Libertad Department (El Salvador) Salvadoran military personnel