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Rafael Cordero Santiago
Photo: Roca Ruiz, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons10

Rafael Cordero Santiago

Puerto Rican politician

Rafael Cordero Santiago (24 October 1942 – 17 January 2004), better known as "Churumba", was the Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1989 to 2004. Many considered him as a synonym of Ponce, being baptized as "El León Mayor" (Spanish for "The Greatest Lion"), an allusion to the city's official symbol, the lion.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Rafael Cordero Santiago (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Oct 24, 1942, died Jan 17, 2004.1

About

Mayor Cordero was a firm believer in the government decentralization process.

During Cordero Santiago's term in the Ponce mayoral office, the city saw the construction of the Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park, the Tricentennial Park Plaza, and the La Guancha Boardwalk. In 1991, he established an initiative for a restoration project for the 25 de Enero Street historical area, and in 1990 he launched the conversion of the old Parque de Bombas into a museum. Also in 1990, he facilitated the establishment of Castillo Serralles as a museum led by a civic, nongovernmental organization.

Cordero Santiago is credited with re-establishing the "Ponce en Marcha" project in 1992, and there are some who also credit him with the passage by the Puerto Rico Legislature of the Autonomous Municipalities Act of 1991. One of his projects under Ponce en Marcha was the restoration of the Ponce Casino, as depicted on the plaque at the northern exterior wall of the restored casino building on Calle Marina and Calle Luna.

From Wikipedia’s article on Rafael Cordero Santiago, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedPontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico3

Cordero was born in Barrio Playa in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Don Bernardino Cordero-Bernard and Doña María de los Santos Santiago. While still a young boy, his family moved to Calle Lolita Tizol in the Ponce Historic Zone. He attended public schools in Ponce: Ramiro Colon and Rafael Pujals elementary schools, McKinley middle school, and Ponce High School. He graduated from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in Arts with a concentration in Political Sciences, Economy, and Social Sciences. While a university student, Cordero was a member of the Nu Sigma Beta fraternity Delta chapter. As a child he was nicknamed "Churaumba", a nickname he carried into adulthood. "Churumba" was a nickname given in reference to Cordero's height; it is a Puerto Rican Spanish name given to small spinning tops. The name probably derived from the Andalusian Spanish term "churumbel", used to describe a small child.

Cordero was involved in Puerto Rican politics since 1969, when he began working as a special aide to former Governor of Puerto Rico Rafael Hernández Colón, then president of the Puerto Rico Senate. A member of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD), Cordero went on to work in the Departments of Finance and Workers' Rights (Spanish: Departamento del Derecho al Trabajo).

From Wikipedia’s article on Rafael Cordero Santiago (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: politician.5

Personal life

  • BornOct 24, 1942, Ponce6
  • DiedJan 17, 2004, San Juan7
  • CitizenshipUnited States8

Cordero was married to Madeleine Velasco Alvarado. They had two daughters, fraternal twin sisters Solange Marie and Mara Bianca.

From Wikipedia’s article on Rafael Cordero Santiago (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sources

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