Edwin José Cornier Colón is a Puerto Rican politician, activist and surfer, who, as of April 2020, is a municipal legislator in
Aguadilla
Aguadilla (, ), founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city and municipality located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is s ...
, being the youngest elected individual in
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
.
Biography
Cornier Colón was born on October 1, 2002, in Mayagüez, son of Harold Cornier, and engineer, and a mother who is a pharmacist. He has mentioned that since he was a child, especially from the
2012 elections
* 2012 United Nations Security Council election Africa Egypt
* 2012 Egyptian presidential election
Mali
* 2012 Malian presidential election
* 2012 Malian parliamentary election
Senegal
* 2012 Senegalese presidential election
* 2012 Senegalese p ...
, he has been interested in being part of politics and as a consequence of the government's response to Hurricane María and 2019 Puerto Rican protests, he was inspired in launching his candidacy under the ''
Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana
(, generally abbreviated as MVC) is a Puerto Rican political party founded in 2019. It ran in the 2020 general elections on an anti-colonial platform, proposing a constitutional assembly to determine a final decision regarding the relationsh ...
'' (Citizen's Victory Movement, MVC). He is also a surfer and practices
standup paddleboarding
Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Standup paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was documen ...
, having been a member of Puerto Rico's national team and participating in international competitions. Additionally he is a "junior pro" in Flying Fish Board Co. Currently, he is completing a bachelor's degree in geology at the
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
The University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM) or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez (RUM) in Spanish (also referred to as Colegio and CAAM in allusion to its former name), is a Public university, public land-grant university in Mayagüez ...
, though he has also expressed completing studies in political sciences. His intention is to at some moment become Aguadilla's mayor.
At only 17 years-old, announced his candidacy in December 2019 under the MVC and the following May, having graduated, he started his campaign visiting 1,000 homes. He has commented that the "pandemic worked in his favor since it was what allowed him the time to take walks and complete his studies without having to travel from Aguadilla to Mayagüez from Monday to Friday." He ran a mostly self-financed campaign, all donations upwards of $50.00 came from either himself or close relatives and these were the majority (68.14%) of the $1,111.70 collected funds.
In the 2020 general elections Cornier Colón, at the age of 18 year and 33 days of age and being the only candidate of the MVC in Aguadilla, was the recipient of 1,639 votes, becoming the youngest municipal legislator in Puerto Rico. Cornier Colón was one of 25 MVC-affiliated municipal legislators to be elected in November 2020. During a recount in Aguadilla, Cornier Colón, and by default the MVC, were able to retain their victory in the municipal legislature. His vote may be decisive, since the municipal legislature is composed of eight ''
Partido Nuevo Progresista
The New Progressive Party (, PNP) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates for statehood.Partido Popular Democrático'' (Popular Democratic Party, PPD) members, even though the inverse had previously been reported, with seven PNP and eight PPD.
Cornier Colón has mentioned that "he is willing to sit down and talk about isproposals" with the goal of creating alliances with the rest of the municipal legislators and take them to fruition. In the area of accountability and oversight, he has specified that "his strategy will be focused on making public municipal expenses". Other areas of Cornier Colón's areas of interest are the "local economy, community organizing and
ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...
he idea
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...
that city hall give tax exemptions to local businesspeople for at least the first $5,000 in sales" as long as they were located in the area. The ecotourism proposal was inspired a visit he made to
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
where the industry "revenue was close to $40 million annually." Additionally, due to the alleged daily blackouts in Aguadilla, he intends to establish a municipal corporation to strengthen the electrical power lines.
n Spanish
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
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