Salvadoran Humanitarian Loses Fight With Cancer

Mizael Cordero, whose efforts to coordinate aid for his hometown in El Salvador were chronicled in the Voices section April 16, died that day in his Mid-City home after a long bout with cancer. He was 39.

Cordero immigrated to the United States from El Salvador in 1981, eventually opening an accounting office in the Temple-Beaudry area with his wife, Graciela.

Ten years later, he founded one of the earliest hometown associations, groups of people in Los Angeles and other cities who raise funds for clinics, schools and other projects in their homeland recovering from civil war.

Cordero’s group, Hermandad Tineca, has established a library and free clinic, among other projects, in San Martin, El Salvador. He also co-founded COMUNIDADES, Comunidades Unificadas Para la Asistencia Directa a El Salvador, a coalition that now includes 31 hometown associations to further rebuilding efforts.

In later stages of Cordero’s illness, COMUNIDADES raised funds to help his family and will assist them with his burial in San Martin. In addition to his wife, he leaves a daughter, Roxana, 17, and son Mizael Jr., 13.