Raúl Montero Cornejo

Raúl Montero Cornejo (11 April 1914 in Santiago – 24 April 2000 in Viña del Mar) was a Chilean admiral who served as Commander-in-chief of the Chilean Navy during the government of President Salvador Allende. He was also briefly Minister of Finance in August 1973.

Early life He was the son of Emilio Montero Rejas and Felicita del Carmen Cornejo Andrade. He studied at the Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera and at the Arturo Prat Naval Academy (1929–1934).

Marriage and children In 1942, he married Águeda Figueroa Carvajal. They had six children: Raúl, Enrique, Ricardo, Fernando, Jorge and María Eugenia Montero Figueroa.

Naval career Montero set a sailing record aboard the training ship Esmeralda, completing 78% of the voyage from Valparaíso to Papetee, Tahiti, under sail without engine assistance.

He served as Commander-in-chief of the Navy from November 1970 until 11 September 1973, the day of the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, when he was placed under house arrest at dawn by José Toribio Merino, who self-appointed himself commander-in-chief that same day. Montero was later released once the coup had been consolidated.

In parallel, Montero was appointed Minister of Finance on 9 August 1973, serving for 20 days. On 3 September 1973, he submitted his resignation as Commander-in-chief to President Allende, which was rejected. Allende responded: “Once again you present your resignation. I consider your reasons solid and respectable. However, a higher imperative—the supreme interest of the country—forces me to reject it.”