María Cecilia Chacón Rendón is a Bolivianlawyer, political scientist who served as the minister of defense in 2011.[1] She became the first woman to occupy that office. She served as General Director of Multilateral Relations (Spanish: Directora General de Relaciones Multilaterales) and Chief of Cabinet for the Vice Ministry of Foreign Economic and Commercial Relations (Spanish: Jefa de Gabinete del Viceministerio Relaciones Económicas y Comercio Exterior) in the foreign ministry under President Evo Morales.[1] She also worked in the Water Ministry.[2]
She resigned from the post of minister of defense during the 2011 Bolivian protests in reaction to the governments violent crackdown on demonstrators opposed to a highway project in a national park.[citation needed]
