• Submitted by: lena campos
• Society
• 12 / 06 / 2012

---

Juan Carlos Reinao, one of the 345 mayors who took office in Chile today, is a Mapuche descendant who obtained a medical degree from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Cuba.

Reinao participated as an independent candidate in the elections on October 28 and beat the opponents on the right and an opposition pact after into politics driven by popular sectors of the Reinaco commune in the southern region of Araucania

'We have a four-years challenge, during which we will fulfil our campaign promises, we will work hard on the relations of officials and families applying some kind of service, "Reinao told Prensa Latina.

He explained that he just took over a mayor who has very bad image to the population, both in the field of education, and health, and as a city itself.

Reinao considered it very important to overturn the treatment the people receive from officials, for which he will support on the human values incorporated and developed during his seven years of study in Cuba.

Doctor Reinao, 35, graduated from ELAM in 2005, has always been related with territorial claims of the Mapuche people, but not with issues of traditional political parties in Chile.

He worked so far as physician in that community, but -he stated- because of lack of health care in the town, many families, small and medium entrepreneurs, and other social sectors saw him as a hope and encouraged him to aspire to mayor.

Source: Prensa Latina