Patricio Javier de los Dolores Lynch y Solo de Zaldívar was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and a rear admiral in the Chilean Navy, and one of the principal figures of the later stages of the War of the Pacific. He has been nicknamed the "Last Viceroy of Peru", and the Chinese slave-labourers he liberated from the Peruvian haciendas called him the "Red Prince" because of his red hair.

The Ministry of National Defense is the cabinet-level administrative office in charge of "maintaining the independence and sovereignty" of Chile. It is also charged with planning, directing, coordinating, executing, controlling and informing the defense policies formulated by the President of Chile. The minister supervises all the Chilean armed forces. It is Chile's ministry of defence.