Rafael Zaldívar (1834 – 2 March 1903) was President of El Salvador from 1 May 1876 until 21 June 1885,[1][2] and later a diplomat.

[2] It was under his administration that liberal reforms abolished the existence of collectively owned ejidos and tierras comunales throughout the country.

Resistance resulted from Indigenous Salvadorans, but it was quelled by the Zaldívar government, mostly by creating and then deploying a rural police force.

[3] President Zaldívar was not in favour of the proposed rebirth of the Unified Central Republic agreed to by his predecessors and decided to withdraw from the Union.

He was appointed as his country's Envoy Extraordnairy and Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom in early 1900,[4] and later held the same position to France.