Juan Antonio Martínez Varela was a retired Salvadoran military officer who served as Minister of National Defense from 1999 until 2004.

Juan Antonio Martínez Varela graduated from the Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School in December 2004 with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Salvadoran Air Force.

[2][3][4] He was trained to be a pilot and a flight instructor in Texas, United States, and in Israel.

[2] On 1 June 1999, he was appointed as Minister of National Defense of El Salvador by President Francisco Flores Pérez and he served until 1 June 2004.

[2][5] His father was Colonel Juan Antonio Martínez Varela who was the Director of the Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School from 1969 to 1971, served as Minister of the Interior of El Salvador during the presidency of Alfredo Cristiani, and signed the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992.