Leo Díaz Urbina


Leonides "Leo" Díaz Urbina is a Puerto Rican lawyer and politician who served as a legislator in the 24th and 25th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, and as President of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico in 2001. Was Candidate for Mayor of San Juan in 2016

Biography

Díaz Urbina was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where his father, Leonides Díaz, was the owner of a grocer's shop and his mother, Gilberta Urbina Guzmán, a housewife. He has a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences with a minor in Political Science from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus and a juris doctor from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.
In 1987, he was elected President of the National Association of Law Students, Rio Piedras Chapter. He was also elected as President of the student council for the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.
In 1990, he was elected as municipal legislator for the municipal legislative assembly of San Juan, as President of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico for the representative district III of San Juan, and as President of the Republican Party for the same district.
In 1992, he was elected as a Representative for the same district in the 1992 general election. He was sworn on January 11, 1993, effectively becoming an official member of the 24th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. As a member of the 24th House, Díaz Urbina presided the Commission of the Civil and Judiciary and the Commission for the Development of San Juan.
In 1996, he was elected as a Representative at-large in the 1996 general election. He was sworn on January 13, 1997, effectively becoming an official member of the 25th House of Representatives of Puerto Rico.
In 1999, he decided to no longer run for the House of Representatives but publicly supported and campaigned for Carlos Pesquera, then gubernatorial candidate for the New Progressive Party. In 2001, after Pesquera lost, he was elected President of the New Progressive Party, although he was later succeeded by Pesquera, who was one of the NPP candidates in the 2004 elections.
Diaz, was candidate for mayor of San Juan.

Personal life

Díaz Urbina married Zulma Ivelisse Fuster Troche, a prosecutor for the district of San Juan, in 1997. They have three children, Leonides Sebastián and Patricia Victoria, and Isabella Cristina.