Cristóbal Urruticoechea

Cristóbal Ignacio de Loyola Urruticoechea Ríos (born 21 November 1975) is a Chilean politician currently serving as a member of the Chamber of Deputies.

A member of the National Libertarian Party, he has represented District 21 of the Biobío Region since 2018. He previously served as councilman of Los Ángeles.

Early life and education Urruticoechea was born in Santiago, Chile, on November 21, 1975. He is the son of León Fernando Rodrigo Urruticoechea Echevarría and María Cecilia Ríos Santander. He is the father of seven children.

He comes from a family with a long political tradition. He is the nephew of Mario Ríos Santander, former deputy of the National Party and later senator of National Renewal; the grandson of Mario Ríos Padilla, former deputy of the Conservative Party and Conservative United Party; and the great-grandson of Víctor Ríos Ruiz, who served as deputy of the Conservative Party for four consecutive terms between 1906 and 1918.

Urruticoechea completed his primary and secondary education at Colegio Tabancura, graduating in 1993. He later pursued studies in Law at the Universidad del Desarrollo.

He also undertook higher education at INACAP, where he obtained a degree in Advertising Graphic Design.

Professional career Between 2000 and 2001, he worked as a graphic designer at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. From 2001 to 2003, he was employed as a graphic designer at the company Promoplan.

From 2003 to 2007, he served as Head of the Visual Merchandising Department at Cencosud in the city of Chillán, in the Biobío Region. Later, between 2013 and 2015, he worked as Director of the Operations Center at the Nocedal Education Foundation.

In 2016 and 2017, he served as General Manager of the Nocedal Education Foundation.

Political career Urruticoechea began his political career as a member of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI). He later joined National Renewal (RN), remaining a member until September 29, 2020. In the 2008 municipal elections, he was elected city councilor of Los Ángeles, obtaining 4,535 votes, equivalent to 7.37% of the total valid votes.

He ran for mayor of Los Ángeles in the 2012 municipal elections, obtaining 10,686 votes (18.09%), but was not elected. In 2013, he ran as an independent candidate for the Chamber of Deputies in the former 47th electoral district of the Biobío Region, obtaining 19,838 votes (14.66%), without being elected.

In the 2017 parliamentary elections, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a member of National Renewal within the Chile Vamos coalition, representing the 21st electoral district of the Biobío Region. He obtained 22,190 votes, corresponding to 11.63% of the total valid votes. In October 2020, he resigned from RN. In August 2021, the Republican Party of Chile announced that he would seek re-election as a member of the party.

In the November 2021 parliamentary elections, he was re-elected as deputy under the Frente Social Cristiano coalition, obtaining 22,814 votes (11.62%). On April 13, 2024, he informed the president of Republicans of his resignation from the party. In December 2024, he joined the National Libertarian Party (PNL).