Ricardo Martínez Menanteau (born 24 February 1960,

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

) is a member of the Chilean military and has held the position of Commander-in-Chief of Chile since 9 March 2018, since being appointed by former president Michelle Bachelet after predecessor, Humberto Oviedo, retired.

Early years

From 1972 to 1982 he lived with his family in Quillota due to the transfer of his father, Carlos Martínez Aguirre, who was a colonel in the Chilean army. He studied at the Rafael Ariztía Institute in Quillota, the same school as former president and commander-in-chief of Chile, General Augusto Pinochet. He was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

by his family.

Military career

He entered the Liberator Bernardo O'Higgins Military School in 1976, graduating as a lieutenant in infantry weapons on 1 January 1980. He holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

from the Adolfo Ibáñez University, A diploma in Hemispheric Defense and Security from the Inter-American Defense College in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and a Diploma in Joint Operations from the Institute for Hemispheric Security Cooperation also in the United States.

Ranks

1976:

Cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

(Military School) 1979:

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

1980: Second lieutenant 1985:

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

1990:

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

1994:

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

2000: Lieutenant colonel 2006:

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 ...

2010: Brigadier general 2013: Divisional general 2018:

Army General Army general or General of the army is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the French Revolutionary System. Army general is normally the highest rank used in peacetime. In countries that adopt the general officer fou ...

/ Commander-in-chief

Controversies

Foreign trips

According to an investigation by Radio Bío Bío published on 4 January, during the period in which Martinez served as Deputy Chief of Staff (2014-2015) with the rank of Brigadier General, he recorded 30 trips to different regions of the country and abroad, bound for the United States, Africa, Europe and Central America. The cost of these trips was 120 million pesos, including the payment of travel expenses and air tickets which he spend public money on. The Ministry of Defense pointed out that Martinez informed the government of his total willingness to open his financial statements so that they could be audited by the government authorities.

Illegal weapons sales

After participating in a supposedly private meeting with about 900 officers, on November 20. Martinez admitted that he knew information about links between officers and organized crime. The speech was recorded by one of the attendees of the meeting and was later filtered by The Clinic, on 22 November 2018. As a result of this, he attended the Palacio de La Moneda that day on in the early hours of the morning, when Minister of Defense, Alberto Espina, spoke to him as a "''matter of urgency''", before his testimony. On 27 November, he was summoned to testify before the presidents of the Defense Commissions of the National Congress, about the alleged illegal sale of weapons. Martínez began his testimony by announcing legal actions against those responsible for recording his speech at the Military School, which he described as "''illegal''" and later leaked to The Clinic. On December 4, he testified before prosecutor Raúl Guzmán.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martínez Menanteau, Ricardo Chilean Army generals Chilean Army enlisted personnel 1960 births Living people Bernardo O'Higgins Military Academy alumni