Pedro Pablo ''Petero'' Edmunds Paoa (born 1 July 1961) is a Chilean politician. He serves as mayor of

Rapa Nui Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearly ...

(Easter Island) Commune. He was previously the Governor of the Easter Island Province from March 2010 to August 2010. His first term as mayor of Easter Island was between 1994 and 2008, and he was member of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. Currently he is member of the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

. He is a supporter of the island autonomy from

Valparaíso region The Valparaíso Region ( es, Región de Valparaíso, links=no, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , ...

, saying this would allow islanders to handle the problems locally rather than rely on an official "''more than 4000 kilometers and you do not know the island''".

Secession from Chile

His appointment as Easter Island governor sparked protests from indigenous Polynesians on the island, who feared he planned land deals. In response the "Rapa Nui Parliament", a group of indigenous Polynesians, occupied government buildings, demanded Paoa's resignation and wrote to the Pacific Islands Forum saying they wanted to 'secede from Chile'. Edmunds resigned from office in early August 2010. He was temporarily replaced by Jorge Miranda, a lawyer, as interim governor following his resignation. Edmunds' permanent successor,

Carmen Cardinali Carmen Cardinali Paoa (born 21 June 1944) is a Rapa Nui Chilean professor. She served as the governor of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in the government of president Sebastián Piñera, between 2010 and 2014. A native of the island, Cardinali haswor ...

, was appointed Governor in September 2010. In 2015, being the mayor of Easter Island at the time, Paoa once again ran into problems with the Rapa Nui Parliament when they took control over the island and its archaeology. The situation still hasn't been solved. Following his reelection and the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Tiare Aguilera Hey Tiare Maeva Carolina Aguilera Hey is a Rapa Nui attorney and politician. In 2021, she was elected to represent the Rapa Nui people in the Chilean Constitutional Convention. Early life and legal career Tiare Aguilera was born and raised on the i ...

to the

Chilean Constitutional Convention The Constitutional Convention () was the constituent body of the Republic of Chile in charge of drafting a new Political Constitution of the Republic after the approval of the national plebiscite held in October 2020. Its creation and regulatio ...

, he boasted the high

civic education Civics is the study of the rights and obligations of citizens in society. The term derives from the Latin word ''civicus'', meaning "relating to a citizen". The term relates to behavior affecting other citizens, particularly in the context of ur ...

present on Rapa Nui.

References

1961 births Living people Governors of provinces of Chile Hanga Roa Mayors of places in Chile Rapanui politicians Easter Island people Chilean people of English descent {{Chile-politician-stub