About Rafael Cordero Santiago
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. 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. == Early years == 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.
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