Jorge Ballerino

Jorge Juan Ballerino Sandford (10 October 1938 – 13 February 2021) was a Chilean Army general and political adviser who served as Chief of the Presidential General Staff under the military government of Augusto Pinochet between 1988 and 1990.

A key figure in the political-strategic advisory structure surrounding Pinochet, he played a significant role in military planning, internal security strategy and post-1988 transition maneuvers.

Biography He was the son of Army officer Jorge Ballerino Díaz and Marta Sandford.

He entered the Chilean Military Academy in 1953 and graduated in 1956. Between 1968 and 1970 he served as aide-de-camp to commanders-in-chief Sergio Castillo Aránguiz, René Schneider and Carlos Prats. From 1970 to 1973 he served at the Army War Academy.

In 1972 he participated in preparing an Army Action Plan that later influenced the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. After the coup, he joined the advisory group assisting the Military Junta. In 1975 he was sent as a UN observer to the Middle East, and in 1976 he joined the advisory committee to the Army commander-in-chief, strengthening his ties to Pinochet, whom he served as aide-de-camp in 1978.

He became chief of the Casa Militar in 1981, head of the military mission in Spain in 1985, and commander of military institutes in 1988. From late 1988 to March 1990 he served as Chief of the Presidential General Staff.

After 1990 he became chief adviser to the Army commander-in-chief, later serving as Inspector General until his retirement in 1993.

Public and judicial life In 1992 he was the leading figure in the Army's Political-Strategic Advisory Committee, created by Pinochet to navigate the post-transition environment. His role in intelligence operations aimed at undermining the 1993 presidential candidacy of Sebastián Piñera has been widely reported.

After retiring from the Army, he joined the board of the Pinochet Foundation until 1996. He was later investigated in connection with the Banco Riggs accounts associated with Pinochet's inner circle.

Private life He married Guadalupe Astorga Basaure in 1965, and they had two children. A golfer and member of social and sporting clubs, he was closely associated with the milieu surrounding Chilean conservative elites.