Mario Bichón

Mario Bichón
Bichón in an official portrait of his first term as councilor of Pichilemu (1992–96)
Councillor of Pichilemu
In office 26 September 1992 – 6 December 2000
Personal details
Born	(1932-05-14)14 May 1932 San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Chile
Died	18 May 2013(2013-05-18) (aged 81) El Tambo, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Chile
Nationality	Chilean
Political party	Christian Democrat Party
Relations	Rosa Escobedo
Children	Mario, Verónica, and Jessica
Residence	El Tabo (San Vicente T.T.), and Pichilemu
Occupation	Civil servant

Mario Germán Bichón Cáceres (14 May 1932 – 18 May 2013) was a Chilean politician and civil servant. A member of the Christian Democrat Party of Chile, Bichón was elected councillor of the commune of Pichilemu in 1992, and was re-elected in 1996, holding the office between 1992 and 2000, during the government of mayor Jorge Vargas González. Bichón was also a president of the Pichilemu Football Association (Asociación de Fútbol de Pichilemu) and director of the Unión Pichilemu sport club.

Biography

Mario Bichón was born on 14 May 1932 in San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Region of O'Higgins, Chile.^[1] In the 1960s, he relocated to Pichilemu, current capital of Cardenal Caro Province, as stationmaster of the local railway station. He became a member of the Unión Pichilemu sports club, of which he was later elected director. Following his election as director of the club, he became the president of the Pichilemu Football Association (Asociación de Fútbol de Pichilemu) in a "football rejuvenation time", as described by Pichilemu News editor Washington Saldías González, because of the founding of the Independiente and Flecha Roja sport clubs.^[2]

He purchased, at some point, the historical Hotel Central of Pichilemu, which he repaired and worked in for several decades, although he rented the building for some years. Following the 1973 coup d'état in Chile, Bichón was fired from his work at Estación Pichilemu by the military government. By the 1990s, during the government of Patricio Aylwin Azócar, he was reinstated at the Empresa de Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE), in a regional office.^[2]

As a member of the Christian Democrat Party of Chile, Bichón ran for councillor of Pichilemu in the 1992 municipal election, and was elected with 134 votes (2.27%) out of 5,915.^[3] During the 1992–96 term, Bichón held the councillor office with Aldo Polanco Contreras, Raúl Tobar Pavez, Jorge Vargas González, and Mariano Polanco Galarce.^[4] Bichón was re-elected in the 1996 municipal election, this time with 72 votes (1.13%) out of 6,352, mainly because of the first majority obtained by Jorge Vargas González, who became the mayor of the commune.^[5] Through his second term, which lasted between 1996 and 2000, he held the councillor office with Aldo Polanco Contreras, Mariano Polanco Galarce (these two re-elected), Washington Saldías González, and Carlos Leyton Labarca.^[4] Bichón did not seek re-election for a third term on the council.

Bichón spent his final years in Pichilemu and at his home in El Tambo, a town located twenty kilometers east of San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Cachapoal Province, where he died of cancer just four days after turning 81, on 18 May 2013, approximately at 06:10 local time (10:10 UTC). His funeral took place in San Vicente on 19 May 2013. Bichón Cáceres was survived by his wife, Rosa Escobedo, and his children: Jessica, Mario, and Verónica.^[2]

References