Rafael Cordero Santiago, 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", an allusion to the city's official symbol, the lion. Mayor Cordero was a firm believer in the government decentralization process.

Ponce is a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on August 12, 1692 and is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the great-grandson of Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce is often referred to as La Perla del Sur, La Ciudad Señorial, and La Ciudad de las Quenepas.