by Edgar Martínez and Marvin Ramírez

Tribute immortalizes Orlando Cepeda The San Francisco Giants star, Orlando Cepeda observes the just unveiled statue in his honor. (photos by Marvin J. Ramirez)

Amid tears and high emotions the legendary Orlando Cepeda was immortalized by the San Francisco Giants, when his own statue was unveiled before the eyes of the greatest of the greatest in baseball history, friends and family.

The unveiling of the 9 by 5 foot bronze statue took place before hundreds of fans who participated in a mini Giants’ festival with Latin American food, salsa bands playing, Mexican folkloric dance, and the special presentation of Cepeda’s personal friend, Grammy winner, José Feliciano. Before coming to the public on the skirts of the AT&T Park, Cepeda hosted a smaller private gathering, which included family, friends, and Giants executives and players.

Among those invited were Ms. Vera Clemente, wife of the late Roberto Clemente, who spoke to this reporter at length about her husband’s work to help Nicaragua after the 1972 earthquake, until he lost his life in a plane crash. Ms. Clemente said that she will be visiting Nicaragua soon, a country which she and her children have fallen in love with.

Others present were Juan Marichal, Felipe Alou, Peter Magowan, Patrick “Pat” Gallaghe, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Barry Bonds, Vida Blue and many others.

Passing by the statues of great Giants stars such as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey or Dominican Juan Marichal, teammates for years, Orlando said it never passed his mind that he would one day have a statue in San Francisco’s ballpark.

Orlando Cepeda and his wife Miriam couldn’t hold the tears of emotion when the veil that covered his statue was removed.

“Today is a surprise, an immense honor and for the luck of being born with abilities to play ball, and have my statue in this beautiful park in this city that I love.

For his young fans, Cepeda sent, “A greeting of my part for those who fight to be better and that everything be positive.

Cepeda known as “The Baby Bull,” has been from 1999, a life tenant of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and a complete legend in the baseball Big League.

From his beginning at 20 years of age in 1958, with the Giants of San Francisco, in the same period he was a named Rookie of the Year and more Valuable Player, he was here for the fi rst performance of this team after it moved from New York to San Francisco. His debut was unbeatable on having connected a quadrangular to famous Don Drydale, of today detested by Bay Areas fans, the Dodgers of Los Angeles.

Cepeda scored important achievements between 1958-1966 with the Giants, his ­golden epoch was he when scored .300, although to his retirement, after transferring to the San Luis, Atlanta Athletics of Oakland, Red Socks of Boston, and ending with the Royals of Kansas City (1974), his global and final average was .297, with .379 for full runs, 1,365 runs produced in 2,124 challenges.

He was chosen for 11 Star Games but he only took part in nine. Of the World Series in which Cepeda took part, the most painful could have been the one in which San Francisco lost in seven games against the New York Yankees in 1962.

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by the El Reportero’s news services

Alvaro Colom

President Alvaro Colom summoned the army on Sept. 4 to take charge of the presidential palace after spying devices were discoveredin his offices and home. Colom’s decision to call in the military, albeit in a temporary manner, is curious and hugely symbolic given Guatemala’s history of civil war.

It is also a complete reversal of his earlier assurances that the army would cease to play a role in civilian security matters. The move also puts Colom’s announcement that he plans to expand the army in a new light.

Lula acts against Brazil’s intelligence agency as bugging scandal deepens President

Lula da Silva was forced to order the leadership of Brazil’s intelligence agency, Abin, to step down temporarily, after the local press published a transcript of a telephone conversation between the supreme court’s president and an opposition senator, which had been illegally tapped.

The affair put Lula under pressure from the supreme court and opposition parties, which even threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against him, since the Abin is directly answerable to the presidency.

The new-look Informe

As usual the high season for Mexican politics opened, on 1 September, with the traditional annual Informe (State of the Nation) address. The Informe signals the start of the main congressional session of the year. What was unusual about this year’s was that the president did not attempt to deliver it: the interior minister Juan Camilo Mouriño traveled to congress to deliver the speech.

‘New Cold War’ talk amid stories of Russian bombers & warships bound for the Caribbean

Cuba and Venezuela have suddenly become pawns in Russia’s game of geopolitical chicken with the US. Vladimir Putin has started talking about ‘re-establishing positions with Cuba, and there have been Russian media reports about plans to use the island as a refuelling stop for longrange Russian bombers.

Hugo Chávez has announced that Russia intends to send a fl eet to visit the Caribbean, and that he would welcome this. Inevitably, this has dovetailed with events in Georgia and provoked a wave of warnings about the prospect of a ‘new Cold War’. For now, though, this has remained limited to posturing.

Iran and the left in Latin America

Bolivian President Evo Morales is in Tehran this week, ushering in a new chapter in his country’s economic and strategic cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has promised a hefty investment in Bolivia’s energy sector and other joint ventures, some involving other Latin and Central American countries, such as Venezuela and Nicaragua, not to overlook Cuba.

In a joint communique, Morales and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad have signed off on the need for “concrete political steps against every type of imperialism”, while also condemning the intervention of the United Nations Security Council in Iran’s nuclear program as “lacking any legal or technical justification”.

Bolivia may be a poor country, but it is strategically located and represents an important ally for Iran that can act as a catalyst in enhancing Iran’s growing cooperation with other Latin nations, especially those considered leftist or populist.

(Asia Times and Latin News contributed to this report)

by Joe Torres

One of the highlights of the fourth annual UNITY: Journalists of Color convention this summer in Chicago armyshould have been the appearance of Sen. Barack Obama at perhaps the largest gathering of journalists in U.S. history.

The chance to see—and question—the Democratic nominee (his opponent didn’t make it to the Windy City) was e highlight of the event.

Watching someone who could be the nation’s first black president had to be inspiring for a room filled with journalists who spent their careers overcoming tough barriers—a reminder it’s possible to tear down the most improbable of walls.

But even Obama’s appearance couldn’t remove the shadow hanging over this gathering. I spoke with dozens of veteran and young journalists in Chicago and was surprised by the level of despair about the journalism profession, and their own job status. They saw little hope of overcoming the obstacles placed before them.

This, despite the fact that most media companies, including newspapers, still make plenty of money. But Wall Street has placed unreasonable demands on companies. To increase their profit margins, news organizations have targeted the newsroom, cutting budgets, closing bureaus, and laying off thousands of journalists in just the pest few years.

Journalists of color have been hit particularly ha rd. The American Society of Newspaper Editors reported in April that, for only the second time in 20 years, journalists leaving the daily newspaper profession lest year outnumbered those landing their first jobs.

The journalists I spoke with did not know how to fight back against this current onslaught; neither did they understand how the battles in Washington over media policy have impacted their profession.

Many journalists are unaware that their bosses have gone to Washington claiming, despite all evidence to the contrary, claiming greater media consolidation will save newsroom jobs and improve their operations.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin cited this argument when the commission voted to lift the longstanding newspaper broadcast cross-ownership rule last December. It had kept one company from owning a paper and TV station in the same market.

‘CLEAR-CUT’’ NEWSROOMS

Runaway media consolidation is the story behind the attack on quality journalism and the clear-cutting of our newsrooms. But you rarely read ­and then, only inside the business pages about media policymaking in the newspaper or hear about it on TV. You might read about jousting among competing media moguls. Maybe there’s a small story about layoffs.Very rarely does anyone connect the two.

In recent years, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists despite receiving financial support from corporate media companies have made the connection and spoken out against consolidation (as has the Newspaper Guild). They must continue to keep up this fight and expand their efforts. But other journalist groups, like the Society of Professional Journalists, have not taken a stand.

Journalists must add their voices to the media ownership debate, just as they have spoken out strongly in favor of free speech issues and a shield law. Both issues impact the practice of journalism. If journalists do not speak out, their corporate bosses will be more than happy to fill that void.

PUBLIC EXCLUDED

It’s critical that journalists inform the public about the fight going on in Washington over media ownership rules. The public is too often excluded from participating in this debate even though they are the major stakeholder. Where would journalists of color be if it weren’t for the people of color who took to the streets to fight for racial equality during the civil rights movement?

If the public knew more about why the media are struggling, why they’re not represented equally, why the serious news they need is disappearing, perhaps it would demand that Congress and the FCC pass policies that support journalism institutions and independent news voices instead of weakening them.

The current crisis in the media industry is not a new one. Throughout our nation’s history, the emergence of new technology has always disrupted the traditional media system and the marketplace that supports journalism. It happened with the telegraph, radio, TV, cable and now with the Internet.

CORPORATE BIAS

During previous battles, the government adopted policies that favored corporate interests over the public interest.

It doesn’t have to be that way this time. I f we join in the debate, we can build a media system that supports good journalism.

Good journalism holding our corporate and government leaders accountable is what we need to nurture our democracy.

Journalists and journalism groups have to start fighting back if they want to feel hopeful about the future of their profession. This is not the time for them to hang their heads or flee the profession. It’s time to fight back.

(Free Press government relations manager Joe Torres works closely with its policy and research staff to create a legislative agenda and build national coalitions that broaden the base of the media reform movement. A journalist for many years, he had served as deputy director of media policy at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and as editor of Hispanic Link Weekly Report).