Antoinette Vilma Reyes Escalante is a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

and former Honduran politician. In 1998, she became the mayor of

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

and held the position for four years; during this time she was involved in a political scandal over the embezzlement of public funds. Escalante was born in Santa Bárbara to a large family of eight children who relocated to Tegucigalpa in the 1970s. There she spent her childhood, attended college, and met her husband, Cesar Castellanos Madrid, who was later elected mayor of the Central District of Honduras in 1997. In 1998, after his untimely death in a helicopter crash, Escalante took over the post and presided there until 2002. Escalante's work as mayor included the creation of ''El Vaso de Leche'', a program for alleviating the suffering of poor children in the

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

informal settlements Informal housing or informal settlement can include any form of housing, shelter, or settlement (or lack thereof) which is illegal, falls outside of government control or regulation, or is not afforded protection by the state. As such, the inform ...

of Honduras. In 1999 she met with Marisabel Rodriguez, wife of the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. Rodriguez donated several million bolivars to the project, but a later investigation concluded that the funds were never spent on those who needed it. None of the accusations seemed to harm her political career; she was elected a deputy of the National Congress of Honduras from 2006–2010, and has represented Honduras in the

Central American Parliament The Central American Parliament ( es, Parlamento Centroamericano), also known as PARLACEN, is the political institution and parliamentary body of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Its headquarters are in Guatemala City. History ...

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Mayors of Tegucigalpa Deputies of the National Congress of Honduras Mayors of places in Honduras {{Honduras-bio-stub