Jorge Cabello Pizarro

Jorge Cabello Pizarro (24 July 1927 – 15 April 2016) was a Chilean physician, footballer, and politician.

He served as Deputy for the 12th Departamental Group (Talca, Lontué and Curepto) during the XLV Legislative Period (1965–1969) and the XLVI Legislative Period (1969–1973).^[1]

Cabello was born in Rancagua in 1927, the son of Juan Cabello Ugarte and Berta Pizarro Ramos. He studied at School No. 139 of Quinta Normal and later at the Liceo Valentín Letelier de Santiago. He pursued medicine at the University of Chile, graduating as a physician and surgeon in 1954, with postgraduate specialization in Pediatrics and Plastic Surgery. He married María Luisa Taibo Briceño in 1952; the couple had four children.

He worked as a physician at the Public Assistance and the National Health Service, was a surgeon at the Regional Hospital of Talca, and later taught at the Regional Catholic University of Talca.

Cabello joined the Radical Party in 1947 and rose within its ranks. He was elected regidor of Talca (1963–1967), later serving as Deputy for the 12th Departamental Group in the 1965 elections. He sat on the Standing Committees on Social Assistance and Hygiene, Agriculture and Colonization, and National Defense. Reelected in 1969, he served on the Standing Committees on Public Health (chair in 1970), Economy, Development and Reconstruction, and Internal Government. He also participated in special investigative committees on government ministries and corporate irregularities.

Among the bills he cosponsored that became law were Law 17,289 (19 February 1970, pension revaluation fund increase) and Law 16,720 (12 December 1967, creating the National Blood Bank).

In 1973, he ran unsuccessfully for Senate representing Talca on the Unidad Popular list.

After the 1973 coup, Cabello focused on his medical career and clandestinely aided opposition figures. With the return of democracy, he served as municipal councillor of Talca (1992–2000) for the Radical Social Democratic Party (PRSD).

In his youth, he played football for Green Cross. He later became medical director for Rangers de Talca. He was active in the Colegio Médico de Chile, the Medical Sports Society, and other civic organizations, and was vice-president of the Chilean-Soviet Cultural Institute.

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