Carmen Cardinali Paoa Carmen Cardinali Paoa Carmen Cardinali Paoa (born 21 June 1944) is a 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 hasworked as a professor in Santiago and also in Easter Island's tourism industry. Cardinali's predecessor, former Governor Pedro Edmunds Paoa, resigned in early August 2010 following the occupation of six buildings by protesters who demanded the return of land to the descendents of the island's indigenous Polynesian inhabitants. Lawyer Jorge Miranda was appointed as interim Governor until a replacement
Rapa Nui National Park visitor who thought the island resembled Rapa but was bigger ("nui" means big), gave it the Polynesian name ""Rapa Nui"". In Chile, the island is called ""Isla De Pascua"" Spanish for Easter Island. As the island was isolated there are many endemic species of animals and plants. The park is under IUCN Management Category II in southeastern Polynesia. Its biogeographic and ecological history has undergone a sea change from what existed in the ancient days when there were palm trees and a broad leaf forest. Before the Polynesians settled here in the 4th century, the island had an extensive forest