Javier Delgado Mencia (Napoleon's World)

Javier Delgado Mencia (born September 17, 1931) was a Chilean military officer best known for his role in the 1989 coup d'etat that ended Communist rule, and for his stewardship of the military as Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army from 1989 until 2002, when he retired.

As Commander in Chief for Santiago Region, his compliance and leadership in the coup was instrumental to it's success and lack of casualties. He was later responsible for the deconstruction of the military as the government's main instrument of power in Chile and was often considered as a potential defense minister after his colleague and close friend Ronaldo Bexar retired in 1998, but he remained as the head of the Army. Prior to the 1989 coup, Mencia's name appeared on numerous government lists as being of questionable loyalty, and for two years his promotion from colonel to general was questioned openly within Party circles, as he refused to politicize his military position. Post-military, Mencia served briefly as the Chilean ambassador to the United States for Ricardo Lagos and Isabel Allende before retiring permanently in 2005.