by Janet Murguia

Hilaria Vallejo was shocked to learn that after 35 years of picking tomatoes in farms across the southern United States, she was not eligible to receive Social Security benefits. Born in southern Texas, the 77-yearold was unaware that her employers did not report her wages or withhold Social Security taxes. “At the time, we were just happy to be getting paid, but we didn’t know what they were doing,” she said. “They took advantage of us.”

With an amputated leg—the result of a cancerous tumor and an aging body—Hilaria cannot work to sustain herself. Denied the Social Security benefits she should have earned, she depends on the help she receives from her five children to pay her bills and buy groceries. “I’m an American citizen,” she said. “I worked many years in this country’s fields.”

As the economy heads toward recession, Hilaria’s financial stability is at even greater risk. Most elderly Americans and people with disabilities can find at least some relief in Social Security, the federal insurance program to which workers contribute through mandatory payroll taxes and from which they or their family members collect benefits in the event of retirement, disability or death. During times of economic hardship, Social Security benefits become critical to meeting immediate needs.

Unfortunetely, Hilaria’s situation is a reality for many members of our most vulnerable communities, people who face economic insecurity because they lack this social insurance. Almost 30 percent of Latinos age 65 or older do not receive Social Security benefits, compared to only 10 percent of the general population of this age, and more than half of elderly Latinos rely on Social Security for 90 percent of their income. Without Social Security, nearly two-thirds of Latinos over the age of 65 would live in poverty.

Low-wage employment, lack of wage reporting, and errors in employment classification are among the factors that contribute to the gap in Social Security coverage. Workers earning minimum to low wages are less likely to be covered, putting them at risk of bearing a heavy financial burden after retirement or following a debilitating medical emergency. In addition, employers like Hilaria’s, who withhold Social Security taxes or fail to report wages, rob workers of these crucial benefits. Many employers also misclassify workers as independent contractors who need to file their own.. Unaware that the Social Security tax is not automatically withheld from their wages, these employees unknowingly forfeit their benefits.

August marks the 73rd anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of the Social Security Act into law Many Latino workers have not benefited, despite the contributions that they have made to the U.S. economy before and after the bill became law. This disparity in coverage affects our nation’s economy as a whole.

As the Baby Boomers retire, the number of working age adults who contribute to Social Security significantly decreases. As a younger population and an important growing part of the workforce, Latinos will play a large role in paying for the retirement of the Baby Boomers.

Undocumented immigrants, often targeted in the media as “freeloaders,” also significantly contribute to Social Security. The Social Security Administration Chief Actuary estimates that 75°/0 of undocumented workers, most of whom will never see any Social Security benefits, pay Social Security taxes.

They will contribute as much as $7 billion annually to the Social Security trust fund.

In an effort to inform the discussion on these disparities, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—has published Domestic Workers Working Hard to Sustain American Families, Compromising Their Social Security and The Social Security Program and Reform. A Latino Perspective. Both are available at www.ncir.org­.

Conducting important research and releasing publications such as these is just the first step in addressing the critical needs of the older members of our community.

They, like all workers, have made invaluable contributions to our country. It is our obligation to ensure that their basic needs are met.

(Janet Murguía is president of the National Council of La Raza.)

by Dana Lyn Guest

Prominent community leaders, Gene and Eva Royale celebrated their daughter’s gay wedding with an Aztec ceremony and close friends to the family at San Francisco’s City Hall. The event took place on July 28.From left to right, with flower crown Tomasita Medal; Antonio 6 and Emiliano 4, next to Tomasita is Nena Royale, the couple – Jane standing behind Lisa Royale – Dolores Huerta; Eva and Gene Royale, Antonio Hobson; and Clara Gardner. (photo by Marvin J. Ramirez)

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, in a letter to lawmakers, supported measures for a federal bailout for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

NAHREP joined cohort Asian and black real estate professional organizations in support.

The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board took steps July 13 to assure the two mortgage companies would have adequate funds to weather the financial crisis caused by subprime financing.

Further instability in the housing market could potentially rock the overall national economy. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase or guarantee from 40 to 60 percent of all mortgages in the United States.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the Bush administration plans to ask Congress to enact legislation to increase temporarily the two housing corporations’ lines of credit. The U.S. Treasury would be also allowed to buy stock in the companies, if necessary.

The potential cost to taxpayers for the measures could top $25 billion, according to Congress’ top budget analyst Peter Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office.

He predicts the chance that the government might need to step in as less than 50 percent According to the Associated Press, Paulson stressed on July 22 in a New York speech that the support package was “central to the speed with which we emerge from this housing correction.”

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have previously worked closely with NAHREP… to promote affordable homeownership in underserved communities,” said Timothy Sandos, NAHREP’s president.

He went on to stress, “Without these important institutions, we believe that the current real estate crisis would be signifi- cantly worse, particularly for many Hispanic families looking to fi nance their fi rst homes or to refi nance out of existing high-cost mortgage products. “

Hispanics make up about 15 percent of the total U.S. population. Many are in the under-40 age group that makes up a high proportion of first-time homebuyers.

In a tight economy these are the consumers least likely to have access to loans for home purchases,” said Sandos.

In other news:

Four More Conclaves Top Hispanic Agenda in July and August

­by Kelcey Cottin

While the 2008 cultural salutes of NALEO, LULAC and NCLR are now history, the summer parade of national gatherings focusing on Hispanic issues carries on. Four more Latino conventions and conferences are joining the celebration.

• The American GI Forum of the United States, a frontline fi ghter for Latino civil rights following World War 11, is holding its 60th annual event in Denver July 22-27. Its focus is the advocacy for Latino veterans. Forum senior advisor George Autobe says 250 registered delegates and their families are expected to attend. For more information: www.americangiforum.org.
• The National Association of Hispanic Journalistsis one of the four participating race- and ethnicity based professional groups joining together at the UNITY 2008 Conference in Chicago July 23-27. The world’s largest gathering of journalists of color, UNITY 2008’s fourth meeting since its 1994 debut in Atlanta will address pressing issues affecting journalism and the media industry. The nation’s Hispanic, black, Asian and Native American journalists’ associations now meet together in presidential election years. Some 8,000 alliance members came together at UNITY in 2004 in Washington, D.C. More information: www.2008unity.org.
• The National Conference of Hispanic Legislators holds its 4th annual meeting in Chicago July 20-Aug. 3. It is being held in conjunction with the American Legislative Exchange Council’s annual session. For additional information, check: www.hispaniclegisiators.com/events_details.esp?fevents_id=22.
• The Labor Council for Latin American Advancement holds its 17th national membership convention in Orlando Aug. 4-8. LCLM meets every two years, brining community leaders, unionists and members together for workshops, policy sessions and voter registration activities. Some 400 people are expected to attend. More information: www.lclaa.org. Hispanic Link.

­by the El Reportero’s news services

On 3 August an opinion poll found that President Evo Morales’s support was running at between 54 percent and 59 percent. This level of support will mean that Morales should easily win the 10 August recall referendum. The problem is that a decision by the Corte Nacional Electoral (CNE) on 1 August may confuse the results of the eight recall referendums on departmental prefects. The likely outcome of the recall referendums is that the political chaos will continue and the leftwing federal government will continue to struggle with rightwing departmental governments in the east of the country. The only likely change is that the rightwingers will be weakened by the loss the prefectships of Cochabamba and, more surprisingly, Pando.

What the WTO failure means for Latin America

The latest collapse in the Doha round of talks to liberalise international trade, particularly in agriculture and services, is different from the previous collapse, at Cancún, Mexico in 2003. Then, Latin America broadly sided with the rest of the developing world. In Geneva this year, however, Latin America adopted a more independent position and acted as a constructive mediator between industrialised countries and less-economically developed countries. Some nifty diplomatic footwork by Latin America’s chief trade negotiator and Brazil’s experienced foreign minister, Celso Amorim, meant that the blame for the failure fell on the US, India, and China.

New pacts in Venezuelan Patriotic Alliance

CARACAS – Political parties conforming the Patriotic Alliance, coordinated by President Hugo Chavez, will announce Monday new electoral pacts in several Venezuelan states.

Caracas Mayor’s Office candidate Aristóbulo Isturiz said this weekend that the country will reveal important accords in the context of the union led by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

According to the member of the national socialist leadership, spokespeople from leftwing organizations drawn together in the Alliance strengthen formulas of commitment in several departments for the November regional elections.

Isturiz stressed that meetings by PSUV and other political groups are positive. We have already achieved a perfect alliance in 10 states, he noted.

Cuba has trained over 6,000 foreign meds

HAVANA – Health workers trained in Cuba from 2005 to 2008 at the Latin American Medical School project (ELAM) and an accord with the Foreign Ministry (MINREX) sum 6,757 from 56 countries.

ELAM Rector, Dr. Juan Carrizo, says the doctors alone sum 6,254 from more than 30 countries, and 1,500 are from the 4th promotion at 21 ELAM schools through out Cuba.

ELAM, devised by Cuban Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, was set in motion late in 1998 following the havoc caused by hurricanes George and Mitch in Central America and the Caribbean where it helps meet serious health needs.

More observers in Bolivia referendum

LA PAZ – The August 10 revocation referendum will be the consultation with larger number of national and international observers in the history of the country, a government source reported Monday.

According to National Electoral Court president Jose Luis Exeni, the presence of observers will guarantee the transparence of this survey.

Over 200 foreign observers from international organizations and countries worldwide, as well as 4,000 from this country have been accredited for the referendum, Exeni stated.

According to the revocation law, promulgated May 12, Bolivian leaders to maintain their posts can not receive a figure of votes against higher to that obtained in the December 15, 2005 elections.

About 4,090,711 people are expected to vote this August 10 in Bolivia. (Latin News and Prensa Latina contributed to this report.)

by Kelcey Coffin

Phyllis Gutiérrez Kenney

Individually, Hispanics and women have made immense progress in getting involved in public office in recent years. However, the rate at which Hispanic women are gaining the power of office is slower than the rate of the leader who is only one or the other.

Of the 75 women serving the statewide elective executive offices, only three are Latinas; and of the 88 serving in the 110th Congress, a mere seven are Latina. Nationwide, only 74 Latinas serve out of 1,748 female state legislators.

Various Latinas holding office shared their challenges and suggestions on how to improve these statistics with Hispanic Link News Service.

One great commonality among Latina officeholders is the struggle to be noticed, says Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, a Mexican American member of the Washington House of Representatives. Even after gaining election with 76 percent of the vote, she still found herself treated as “invisible me.”

“In a room full of men, I would make a brilliant suggestion’ but would be ignored,’’ Kenney says. “Then a man would say the exact same thing and would be praised for it.”

As a Puerto Rican in Syracuse, N Y., where less than three percent of the population is Hispanic, 54-year-old Common Council President Bethsaida González describes herself as “the brown negotiator in a black and white community.” Starting as an activist parent because her son was failing first grade (he liked to read the newspaper instead of copying letters off the board, she says), Gonzalez’s involvement in politics was launched. “The reality is that as a woman, I have to work twice as hard and as a Hispanic woman, I have to work four times as hard in order to achieve any success,” Gonzalez said.

Jackie Col6n, Commissioner of District 5 in Florida’s Brevard County at age 42, reasons, “People are not ready for Hispanics.”

The Ecuadorian had no intention to go into politics, she says, but after being ignored by city council members when she asked why taxes were so high, she had to be heard. Running against four opponents in the Palm Bay City council race in 95, she received 41 percent of the vote. Colón says she still had to earn the trust of her constituency.

“Being a Latina on the city council hasn’t been an easy task,” says Avondale, Texas, Mayor Marie López Rogers, 59. As a Mexican American, Rogers continues to fight the discrimination there because, as she puts it, she wants everyone to enjoy all that America has to offer. Her mom convinced her that she could do “anything and everything’” Rogers says.

Washington’s Kenney agrees. “Women bring different perspectives and thoughts that are needed to make balance and good decisions.”

Syracuse’s Conzález adds, “l live by the four C’s: challenges, choices, confidence and control. When I ran for council president, there were people who assumed they were next in line and deserved the job, but I jumped ahead.” While many Latinas in public office feel a sense of urgency to increase their numbers, Rosario 1Marin, a Mexican immigrant who was appointed 41st U.S. Treasurer by President Bush, responds, “I don’t see these race and gender issues. I’ve been the first of many things, but I never say elect me because I’m Latina or elect me because I’m a woman. I want to be elected strictly based on my track record.” Marin says she nevertook notice of being a victim of racism or sexism. Hispanic Link.