Cristián Andrés Araya Lerdo de Tejada (

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, September 30, 1988) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. He currently serves as a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

representing

District 11 District 11 can refer to: *District 11 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam *District 11 (Zürich), Switzerland * District 11, an electoral district of Malta *Colorado Springs School District 11, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States *District 11 (H ...

, which includes the communes of

Las Condes Las Condes is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The area is inhabited primarily by upper middle- to high-income families and is known in the Chilean collective consciousness as home to the country's e ...

Lo Barnechea Lo Barnechea is a commune located in the northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile, northeastern sector of the province of Santiago. Its urban boundaries include Los Andes, Chile, Los Andes of the Valparaíso Region, Valparaíso region to the north, ...

Vitacura Vitacura is a communes of Chile, commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Chile, Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It is one of the most expensive and fashionable areas of Santiago, Chile, Santiago. Inhabitants are primarily h ...

La Reina La Reina (Spanish: "The Queen"; distorted from Larraín) is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region, created in 1963 from an eastern portion of the Ñuñoa commune. It belongs to the Northeastern zone of Sa ...

, and

Peñalolén Peñalolén (Mapudungun "fraternal meeting place") is a Chilean commune in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 15 November 1984. History The commune was founded on 15 November 1984. In 2019, Chilean police arreste ...

Biography

Personal life

Araya was born in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

on September 30, 1988, to Cristián Araya Molina and Cecilia Lerdo de Tejada Gajardo. From 1994 to 2006, he attended primary and secondary school at the José Victorino Lastarria High School. As a student leader, he was involved in the 2006 Penguin Revolution, where he opposed school occupations and developed a good relationship with Julio Isamit. He studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Adolfo Ibáñez University The Adolfo Ibáñez University () (UAI) is a private research university in Santiago, Chile associated with the Adolfo Ibáñez Foundation. In 1988, in accordance with new educational legislation, a university was founded based on the Valparaiso ...

, where he also earned a Master's degree in Organizational Psychology. In 2016, he completed a degree in Legal Sciences at the same university and was admitted to the bar as a lawyer in 2020. Araya is a volunteer firefighter with the 15th Company of Santiago and a reserve officer in the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army () is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade. In recent years, and after sever ...

Political Career

Araya was a member of the

Independent Democratic Union The Independent Democratic Union (''Unión Demócrata Independiente'', UDI) is a conservative and right-wing political party in Chile, founded in 1983. Its founder was the lawyer, politician, law professor and senator Jaime Guzmán, a civilian a ...

until 2019, when he joined the Republican Party. In the 2016 municipal elections, he was elected as a

councilor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regio ...

for

with 25.8% of the valid votes, representing the Independent Democratic Union. During his term, he was a dissenting voice on some issues against then-mayor Raúl Torrealba. As a member of the Republican Party, he ran for mayor of Vitacura in the 2021 elections and came in second place with 31.3% of the votes, losing to

Evópoli Political Evolution (), also known in Spanish by its shorthand Evópoli, is a Chilean centre-right political party, founded in 2012. The party defines itself as a liberal platform for the people who look for a "modern centre-right who proposes as ...

candidate

Camila Merino Camila Merino Catalán is an industrial engineer and former Minister of Labor and Social Welfare for Chile. Currently is Mayor of Vitacura. Early life Merino completed her studies in Colegio Alianza Francesa in Concepción, Chile. She completed ...

. In 2021, Araya was elected as a deputy for

in northeastern Santiago, representing the Republican Party. During the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, Araya supported

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

and visited the country in May 2022 alongside deputy Benjamín Moreno Bascur.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Araya Lerdo de Tejada, Cristián 1988 births Living people Republican Party (Chile, 2019) politicians Chilean anti-communists Adolfo Ibáñez University alumni Deputies of the LVI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile