Mapuche woman picked to lead architects of Chile's new constitution

A demonstrator holds an object during a rally as constitutional assembly members hold first session to draft a new constitution, in Santiago, Chile July 4, 2021. REUTERS/Pablo Sanhueza

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Delegates chose a woman on Sunday from Chile's majority indigenous Mapuche people to lead them in drafting the country's new constitution - a dramatic turnaround for a group that is unacknowledged in the country's present rule book.

Elisa Loncon, 58, a political independent, is a Santiago university professor and activist for Mapuche educational and linguistic rights. She was picked by 96 of the 155 men and women, including 17 indigenous people, who make up the constitutional body that will draft a new text to replace Chile's previous magna carta produced during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.