Rafael Cordero Santiago (24 October 1942 – 17 January 2004), better known as "Churumba", was the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Ponce,

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 ...

, from 1989 to 2004. Many considered him as a synonym of Ponce, being baptized as "El León Mayor" (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for "The Greatest Lion"), an allusion to the city's official symbol, the

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

. 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 Parque Familiar Julio Enrique Monagas (English: ''Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park'') is Puerto Rico's largest passive park.Tricentennial Park Plaza, and the La Guancha Boardwalk. In 1991, he established an initiative for a restoration project for the

25 de Enero Street Calle 25 de Enero (lit., 25 January Street) is a street and historic Victorian block located in barrio Segundo in Ponce, Puerto Rico, built to house Ponce's volunteer firemen and their families, after the historic fire that took place in the ci ...

historical area, and in 1990 he launched the conversion of the old

Parque de Bombas The Parque de Bombas () is a historic former fire station in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is one of Puerto Rico's most notable buildings, with some considering it "by far the most easily recognized landmark in the Island." The Parque de Bombas is ...

into a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

. Also in 1990, he facilitated the establishment of

Castillo Serralles Castillo (Spanish for 'castle') may refer to: * Castillo (surname), including a list of people with the name * Castillo, Dominican Republic * Castillo, Álava, Spain * Castillo CF, a Spanish football team See also

* * Del Castillo (disambi ...

as a museum led by a

civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: Civic or CIVIC can also refer to: General *Honda Civic, a car produced by the Honda Motor Co. *Civics, the science of comparative government * Civic ...

nongovernmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. Cordero Santiago is credited with re-establishing the "'' Ponce en Marcha''" project in 1992, and there are some''Autonomous Municipalities.''
Omar Malavet González. Inter-American University of Puerto Rico at San German. San German, Puerto Rico. February 2004. Retrieved 13 October 2011. who also credit him with the passage by the

Puerto Rico Legislature The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico () is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, responsible for the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. The Assembly is a bicameral legislature consisting of an uppe ...

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 Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

, 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 The Ponce Historic Zone (Spanish: ''Zona Histórica de Ponce'') is a historic district in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico, consisting of buildings, plazas and structures with distinctive architectures such as Neoclásico Isabelino and the Ponce Cr ...

. He attended public schools in Ponce: Ramiro Colon and Rafael Pujals elementary schools, McKinley middle school, and

Ponce High School The Ponce High School is public educational institution in Ponce, Puerto Rico, offering grades nine through twelve. The school's main building is a historic structure located on Cristina Street, in the Ponce Historic Zone. From its beginning t ...

. He graduated from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico) is a private Roman Catholic university with its main campus in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It provides courses leading to Bachelor's, Master's and Docto ...

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 Nu Sigma Beta Fraternity () is a Puerto Rican fraternity. It was established in 1937 at the University of Puerto Rico by 10 students from diverse backgrounds. It quickly expanded and 86 years later, there are chapters and zones all over the isla ...

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 Puerto Rican Spanish is the variety of the Spanish language as characteristically spoken in Puerto Rico and by millions of people of Puerto Rican descent living in the United States and elsewhere. It belongs to the group of Caribbean Spanish ...

name given to small

spinning top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be rotation, spun on its vertical Axis of rotation, axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will ...

s. The name probably derived from the

Andalusian Spanish The Andalusian dialects of Spanish (, , ) are spoken in Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla, and Gibraltar. They include perhaps the most distinct of the southern variants of peninsular Spanish, differing in many respects from northern varieties in a number ...

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 The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...

Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...

, then president of the

Puerto Rico Senate The Senate of Puerto Rico () is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control the legislative branch of ...

. 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'').

Mayor of Ponce

In 1988, Cordero received the endorsement of then governor Rafael Hernández Colón for the office of Mayor of the city of Ponce and won the elections for the PPD by 1,617 votes against his opponent Helcías Bermúdez of the New Progressive Party that same year. He won re-elections in 1992, 1996, and 2000. Among Cordero Santiago's many achievements as mayor are the construction of the

Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park Parque Familiar Julio Enrique Monagas (English: ''Julio Enrique Monagas Family Park'') is Puerto Rico's largest passive park.confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Bucaná and Portugues rivers. Cordero Santiago also built the Tricentennial Park Plaza in 1992, the La Guancha Boardwalk, and is credited with re-establishing the "''Ponce en Marcha''" project in 1992. In 1991, mayor Cordero Santiago instituted a restoration project for the

homes, the street per se, and surrounding area based on their historical value. In 1990, the administration of Cordero Santiago restored the old

and turned it into a museum that preserves the history of Ponce's firefighters. On Cordero's credit list is also facilitating the establishment of

* * Del Castillo (disambi ...

as a museum in 1990. There are some who also credit him with the establishment of the Autonomous Municipalities Act of 1991. He was also instrumental in the celebration of the 1993 XVII Central American and Caribbean Games held in Ponce. In late 2003, Cordero signed and initiated the construction of a multimillion-dollar mega port complex in Ponce named Port of the Americas, a project he fought for during several years. The project is expected to generate much needed jobs for Ponce residents, and improve the local

Mercedita Airport Mercedita International Airport (AIM) () is an international airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Ponce, Puerto Rico. The airport covers 270 '' cuerdas'' (approx. 262.2 acres) of land ...

and the Ponce hotel industry. Upon his death in 2004, the project was still in construction. On 28 June 2004, via Law 166, the Legislature of Puerto Rico renamed the Port of the Americas as the 'Rafael "Churumba" Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas', in his honor. Churumba is widely regarded as author of a saying that is still used today: A strong believer in the removal of the U.S. Navy from the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, Cordero was arrested in 2001 and imprisoned for 30 days after practicing

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizenship, citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be cal ...

during the Navy-Vieques protests by illegally trespassing the restricted grounds of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Vieques Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico, and together with Culebra, it is geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques lies about east of the mainland of Puerto Rico, measuri ...

Death and funeral

Churumba died on 17 January 2004 at 9:00 AM AST in the Medical Center of

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

at the age of 61 after slipping into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

and suffering a

brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

. His wish of posthumously donating his organs was fulfilled. The funeral guard was held on 18 January in the

Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

with a rotatory guard of politicians, public servicemen and the various sport teams of Ponce. Many visitors cheered "''Long live Churumba!''" and "''We love you!''" The electronic board of the auditorium displayed the words "''The Greatest Lion rests in peace''". Churumba's coffin was later returned to a local funeral home for a family veil guard. The day after, on Monday, 19 January, a prayer was offered at the

Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe The Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish: ''Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe''), or simply Ponce Cathedral, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce located in downtown Ponce, Puerto Rico. The cathedral ...

after exposing the mortal remains in the former mayor's home. Cordero's burial was held in the La Piedad Cemetery in Ponce. Former Governor

and his brother were in charge of the oratory mourning. His remains were subsequently transferred to the Panteon Nacional Roman Baldorioty de Castro near downtown Ponce, where they are currently located in a prominent mausoleum.

Personal life

Cordero was married to Madeleine Velasco Alvarado. They had two daughters,

fraternal twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

sisters Solange Marie and Mara Bianca.

Homages

After game seven of the Puerto Rico National Basketball League 2004 Finals, when the Ponce Lions won their twelfth championship, player Antonio Colón lifted Cordero's usual courtside seat igniting Ponce fans into celebration. The championship was officially dedicated to Cordero. Cordero's seat was reserved open during every Ponce Lions home game in 2004, in his honor.

Honors

On 13 August 2008, the

Puerto Rico Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico () is the territorial legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, responsible for the legislative branch of the government of Puerto Rico. The Assembly is a bicameral legislature consisting of an uppe ...

approved Law 256, naming Route PR-9, a

controlled access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

highway which circles the city of Ponce, as the ''Rafael (Churumba) Cordero Santiago Highway.'' Cordero Santiago is also honored at Ponce's Park of Illustrious Ponce Citizens. Only six other, of over 100 former Ponce mayors, are honored there. In Barrio Playa, his homebarrio, there is thoroughfare near

Plaza del Caribe Plaza del Caribe is an enclosed shopping mall located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is owned by Empresas Fonalledas, and is the largest mall in southern Puerto Rico. The mall is located at the intersection of Puerto Rico Highway 2 and Highway 12. ...

, named after him; a large image of his face stands at the beginning of the thoroughfare. The Port of Ponce was also renamed after him; it is now called the

Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas The Rafael Cordero Santiago Port of the Americas (PLA) is a megaport currently under construction in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico. The project aims to convert the current Port of Ponce into a value-added Tax exemption, tax-free Free tr ...

Quotes

This phrase has become a common

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

among ''

ponceños Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publications/reporters have erroneously stated Ponce's dat ...

'', who are usually regarded for the pride they show for the city. "This hraseis in reference to the massive traffic jams experienced in the

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

metropolitan area where highways resemble parking lots certain times of the day."''Everything else is Parking.''
Let'sGotoPonce. Retrieved 29 July 2009. Cordero's widow, Madeleine Velasco, used the phrase at the closing of her late husband's funeral in his honor.

References

Other references

# Santana, Mario. Sublime muestra de agradecimiento. San Juan, Puerto Rico: ''El Nuevo Día''. 19 January 2004. # El Nuevo Dia. Muere 'Churumba' Cordero. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 17 January 2004.