Rafael Arratia Valdebenito

Rafael Luis Arratia Valdebenito (born 12 May 1946) is a Chilean physician and politician who served as a deputy.

Early life and family Arratia was born on 12 May 1946 in Quillota. He is the son of Rafael Arratia Vidal and Olivia Valdebenito Cuevas.

He married Verónica French-Davis del Puerto and is the father of four children.

Professional career He completed his secondary education at Colegio Manuel León Prado in Santiago. In 1967, he entered the University of Chile, where he qualified as a physician and surgeon in 1975. That same year, he began postgraduate studies in Ophthalmology at the same university, completing them in 1977.

From 1975 to 1979, he worked as a lecturer at the School of Medicine of the University of Chile. In 1978, he began practicing as an ophthalmologist at the Hospital of San Fernando, where he worked until 1985.

In 1985, he also assumed the presidency of the Medical Chapter of San Fernando, serving until 1980, and during the same period he was regional councillor of the Medical Association of the VI Region. Two years later, he was appointed Medical Director of Clínica San Francisco de San Fernando, a position he held until 1998.

Political career He began his political activities after joining the Christian Democratic Party. In 1993, he served as communal councillor of Santa Cruz, and between 1995 and 1998 he was provincial president of the Medical Nucleus of the VI Region.

Among other activities, he has been a civil pilot since 1970 at the San Fernando Air Club, where he served as director between 1979 and 1998.

In the December 1997 parliamentary elections, he was elected deputy for District No. 35 (Chépica, La Estrella, Litueche, Lolol, Marchigüe, Nancagua, Navidad, Palmilla, Paredones, Peralillo, Pichilemu, Placilla, Pumanque and Santa Cruz), in the O'Higgins Region, for the 1998–2002 term. He obtained the highest vote in the district with 19,347 votes (28.61% of the valid votes cast).

In 2001, he ran for re-election in District No. 35 but was not re-elected.