Diego José Pedro Víctor Portales y Palazuelos (June 16, 1793 – June 6, 1837) is a Chilean statesman and entrepreneur.

As a minister of president José Joaquín Prieto, Diego Portales plays a pivotal role in shaping the state and government politics in the nineteenth century, delivering with the Constitution of 1833 the framework of the Chilean state for almost a century.

Portales' influential political stance includes unitarianism, presidentialism and conservatism, which leads to consolidate Chile as a constitutional authoritarian republic with democracy restricted to include only upper class men.

While deeply unpopular during his lifetime, the murder of Portales in 1837 during a mutiny has been judged a decisive factor during the War of the Confederation by switching Chilean public opinion to support the war against the Peru–Bolivian Confederation.