René Francis Merino Monroy (born 30 December 1963) is a Salvadoran military officer who currently serves as the Minister of National Defense.

In June, he transferred to Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, studying to be a naval cadet, and later returned to the EMCGGB in December.

Merino returned to the Arturo Prat Naval School from February to November 2010 to continue his general staff studies.

[1] Merino's first assignment was the La Unión Naval Base from March 1990 to December 1991 as a commander of the coast guard during the Salvadoran Civil War.

[1] From June 2008 to February 2009, Merino served as a company commander of the Cuscatlán Battalion XI Contingent during the Iraq War.

After returning from Iraq, he resumed his post as the chief of studies at the Center for Naval Education and Instruction which he held from February to June 2009.

[5] After Bukele's second inauguration on 1 June 2024, the Salvadoran government announced that all incumbent cabinet ministers, including Merino, would stay in office until further notice.

[6] Shortly after being sworn in as minister of defense, Merino promised that he would develop a strategy to combat crime and street gangs in El Salvador.

The Legislative Assembly convened an extraordinary session and approved the implementation of a 30-day "state of exception" which suspending some constitutional rights, increasing the amount of time individuals could be detained without trial, and allowing the government to monitor citizens' communications without warrants.

[13] On 1 February 2023, Bukele posted a video to Twitter showing him, Merino, General Director of Penal Centers Osiris Luna Meza, Director of the National Civil Police Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, and Minister of Public Works Romeo Herrera touring the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a prison with the capacity to hold 40,000 inmates.

[14] During the tour, Merino presented the 1,000 guards, 600 soldiers, and 250 police officers which would be assigned to operate and secure the prison to Bukele.

[21][22] Bukele did this amidst then-ongoing resistance from the Legislative Assembly to approve a US$109 million loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration to fund the Territorial Control Plan.

He told citizens to be ready to present their national identity documents to expedite the military's and police's processes in verifying that they qualify for the exceptions.

[34] In July 2020, Merino criticized the Legislative Assembly for refusing to allocate the government resources to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, warning that COVID-19 cases would only continue to rise.

136 which established the Nu Tanesi Star, a medal awarded for actions which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and tropical storms Amanda and Cristobal.

[37] On 12 March 2021, Merino, Arriaza, and Minister of Health Francisco Alabí received a shipment of 33,600 COVID-19 vaccines at the Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez International Airport which were delivered to the country by UNICEF.

[38] Merino received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on 29 March 2021 at the San Salvador Military Hospital along with other officials of the ministry of defense.