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The old man’s last gasp

by José de la Isla

HOUSTON – Fidel was calling by cell phone during Hugo’s final remarks at the National Stadium in Santiago de Chile, after King Juan Carlos of Spain had told Chávez, Venezuela’s president, to shut up.

The convalescing Cuban dictator wanted to tell Chávez he was thinking about the Chilean volunteers who had gone off to fight against Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza in the 1960s.

Is Fidel’s reminiscence of consequence? You decide.

The Somoza regime was in trouble after Sandinista guerrillas, funded by the Cuban regime and the Soviet Union, were engaging the government. But support for the Sandinistas didn’t mushroom until after the devastating 1972 earthquake that struck Managua (and the Somozas stole much of the international aid sent). Jimmy Carter withdrew U.S. support to the Nicaragua regime, and Somoza resigned in 1979.

Daniel Ortega, a member of the multiparty junta, was later elected president. He served from 1985 to 1990, backed by Castro. The well-armed, U.S.-backed Contras moved against Ortega as he tried out socialist approaches. Encountering considerable internal dissent, he directed his hostility toward the United States.

More than 30,000 Nicaraguans died in the conflict between the Sandinista government and the Contras. It brought on in the U.S. the Iran-Contra scandal, where Col. Oliver North and members of the Reagan Administration defied Congress’s Boland Amendment, sold arms to Iran, and used the proceeds to supply the Contras.

Since those times, the Soviet empire has collapsed. With it went the Soviets’ direct and indirect trade subsidies to Cuba. Ever since, the Cuban regime has been less able to provide basic goods to its people. It has moved into tourism and even some alleged narcotrading to get hard currency.

In light of the resulting consumer scarcities, black marketing and rising human rights abuses, preparations for the 1991 Fourth Congress of Cuba’s Communist Party brought some expectations of change. According to journalist Andrés Oppenheimer’s book, “Castro’s Final Hour: The Secret Story Behind the Coming Downfall of Communist Cuba,” 1.1 million opinions were collected by the party and compacted into 76 reports filling 9,063 pages. Reformers even thought about a structural change with a reform-minded prime minister directing the government.

A classified report went to the Central Committee that counted 3,300 people who wanted free farmers markets. Nearly 100 said they wanted a multiparty system and 50 proposed a market economy. These numbers were barely a whisper but they were considered a roar to a system that barely tolerates dissent and certainly not opposition. Popular demand for reforms could not be altogether ignored.

Raúl Castro even was reported in support of some of the reforms. But he was conspicuously absent at the convening of the Congress. He did not appear until toward the end. Fidel put a stop to that reform movement.

That’s why the secret poll, reported this month by the International Republican Institute, should not have come as much of a surprise. Younger and more educated Cubans drive up the numbers to show overwhelming support for a more democratic system (76 percent) and a market-driven economy (84 percent).

Once affiliated with the Republican Party but now reputedly non-partisan, the IRI conducted 600 man-on-the street interviews on the island. The methodology used, where respondents didn’t know they were being interviewed, remains a controversial technique among pollsters.

What is not controversial is that the Old Man, in his fantasy ideological heroics and scarcity economics, did not take people’s simple needs into account. Instead, he created depression-like queues for mealtime commodities. The 1991 poll and the more recent one also suggest people don’t want to let go of the gains their country has made, as in health care and education.

Among the Old Man’s last gasps over the cell phone to Hugo Chávez were not braggadocio concerning how many he helped live but about squandering lives and the country’s treasury to resist, to fight, to die — for God knows what.

[José de la Isla, author of “The Rise of Hispanic Political Power” (Archer Books, 2003) writes a weekly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service. E-mail ­joseisla3@yahoo.com). ©2007

Do not use “illegal alien,” use instead, undocumented

by Marvin J. Ramirez

Marvin RamirezMarvin Ramirez

It happens in many aspects of our lives.

Sometimes people, due to a sense of superiority, disrespectfully call people names – maybe purposely to offend or disgrace. It could be said to a person who is overweight. And without respect or consideration, someone might call him or her, fat. Or it might be to a person with a physical disability, being called cripple. And the same works for a person who is undocumented in the country.

Out of respect, and this is to remind everyone reading this article, who uses pejorative terms when referring to people as ‘illegal’, being undocumented is not a crime. In common law, for something to be crime, there would have to be an injured party. Common Law is still used in this country by million of people. (On later articles, I will talk about it).

People migrate because of wars or economic hardship in their countries, where most of the time they are proprietors.

So, they have to seek ways to support their families in foreign lands, and most of the time, there is no way one can wait until there is a visa available.

Name calling becomes more part of the culture when our own media uses pejorative terms in their headlines to label a certain class of people. This incites those who harbor hate and dislike against immigrants.

With this respect, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), concerned with pejorative terms to describe a part of our community – approximately 11 million undocumented people – has called on the national media to stop using the term “illegals” as a noun, “short hand for illegal aliens.”

According to Juan Fidel Larrañaga, an education advocate in New Mexico, the NAHJ is particularly troubled with the growing trend of the news media to use the word “illegals” as a noun, shorthand for “illegal aliens,” he says. Using the word in this way is grammatically incorrect and crosses the line by criminalizing the person, not the action they are purported to have committed.

Shortening the term in this way also stereotypes undocumented people who­ are in the United States as having committed a crime. Under current U.S. immigration law, being an undocumented immigrant is not a crime, it is a civil violation. Furthermore, an estimated 40 percent of all undocumented people living in the U.S. are visa overstayers, meaning they did not illegally cross the U.S. border, Larrañaga says.

“In addition, the association has always denounced the use of the degrading terms “alien” and “illegal alien” to describe undocumented immigrants because it casts them as adverse, strange beings, inhuman outsiders who come to the U.S. with questionable motivations. “Aliens” is a bureaucratic term that should be avoided unless used in a quote.

Next time, please members of the public and the media, use undocumented, not illegal.

­

Hispanic College Fund announces partnership with institute

­WASHINGTON, DC – The Hispanic College Fund today announced a partnership with AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute to give two hundred Phoenix high school students the opportunity to participate in the HCF Youth Institute.

The HCF Youth Institute begins with the four-day, three-night Hispanic Youth Symposium (HYS), a nationally recognized program that develops Hispanic youths’ understanding of the connection between college achievement and professional success. Additionally, students are prepared with the necessary tools to navigate the college-to-career pathway. Another vital outcome is the establishment of a long-lasting support network for continued professional development and community involvement. After attending the HYS, students are provided with monthly workshops, academic and cultural mentoring, and volunteer opportunities coordinated by AGUILA staff.

“We are very excited to partner with the AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute. Our message to Hispanic youth is to complete high school and pursue college degrees in order to obtain meaningful careers,” said George Cushman, Vice President of Programs for the Hispanic College Fund. “The Hispanic Youth Symposium provides students with a clear career vision, but it is the partnership with AGUILA that will sustain that vision until the students reach college.” CEO and Founder of AGUILA, Rosemary Ybarra-Hernan-dez stated, “This partnership is critical to our youth, to our communities and to our country. Our collective efforts contribute to our goal of increasing Hispanic college graduates, but more importantly, this partnership serves as an example to our youth that success can be realized by people who come together with a common goal of service.”

Additional HCF Youth Institute program locations: The following regions will each host an HCF Youth Institute in 2008: California Bay Area; Fresno, CA; Albuquerque, NM; Northern Virginia; Richmond, VA; Washington, DC; and Baltimore, MD. For more information on the HCF Youth Institute, please visit http://www.hispanicyouth.org.

The Hispanic Youth Symposium is a program of the Hispanic College Fund. The Hispanic College Fund (HCF) is a private non-profit organization dedicated to developing the next generation of Hispanic professionals in America. The HCF mission is to provide Hispanic students with the vision, resources and mentorship needed to attain successful careers and become community leaders. Since its founding in 1993, HCF has supported the education of over 4,000 financially disadvantaged Hispanic students seeking careers in business, science, engineering and technology with over $9 million in grants.

Through programs like the HCF Scholarship Program, Hispanic Youth Symposium, Latinos on the Fast Track (LOFT), HCF Connections and the HYP Leadership & Development Program, HCF is enriching lives and building bridges for our future Hispanic leaders. For more information about the Hispanic College Fund, please visit our website at: http://www.HispanicFund.org.

AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute’s (AGUILA) is a unique college access program for Latino/a youth that helps to build a web of support through sustained support and culturally-relevant, college-preparatory curriculum. AGUILA’s mission is to empower and prepare Latino/Latina youth for college admissions and graduation through a unique approach based upon a greater cultural understanding as a guide to personal, academic and professional excellence as future Latino/a Leaders. Youth attend monthly seminars that focus on meeting required timelines in the college application process, including scholarships and financial aid.

Additionally, AGUILA encourages personal development through participation in: career exploration, leadership development, cultural competence, communication skills, interpersonal relationships, conflict resolution, Chicano/a studies, decision making, and civic WEEKengagement. Referred to as the “Fast Moving Train” in Arizona, AGUILA recognizes the importance of developing strong leaders for the future of our communities and our country through Serving Latino Youth and Building Latino Leadership. For more information on the AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute, please contact Ms. Rosemary Ybarra-Hernandez, CEO & Founder, at (602) 518-0612 or ­rhernandez81@cox.net.
(HISPANIC PR WIRE).

Escalating human rights violations in El Salvador linked to U.S. sponsored training

by Juliana Birnbaum Fox

Salvadorian Assemblymember Blanca Flor A. Bonilla after meeting with El Salvador's vice consul in SF.: (photo by Marvin J. Ramirez)Salvadorian Assemblymember Blanca Flor A. Bonilla (in white) after meeting with El Salvador’s vice consul in SF. (photo by Marvin J. Ramirez)

A four-month long resistance by residents of Cutumay Camones, El Salvador to the illegal construction of a dump that could poison the community’s water supply has been met with increasingly violent attacks by military and police. On Nov. 22, more than 300 riot police were sent and helicopters sprayed tear gas on protesters, likely contributing to the death of 14-year-old William Alfredo Ventura, who died of respiratory complications. The use of force against demonstrators has escalated significantly since the opening of the U.S.-sponsored ILEA (International Law Enforcement Academy) in El Salvador in 2005.

Blanca Flor Bonilla, a deputy to the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador, joined activists from CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, to condemn the escalating violence. A small group gathered outside the Salvadoran consulate in San Francisco on Nov. 29 for a press conference to denounce the repression of community protest by the Salvadoran National Police under the administration of President Antonio Saca.

The conference was timed to coincide with Saca’s visit to Washington DC on the same day, where he met with President Bush and received ­a medal of honor from the International Republican Institute for “promoting freedom and democracy” in Latin America. According to White House Spokesperson Dana Perino, the leaders met to discuss “the recent initiative to enhance security cooperation with Central America.”

Assemblywoman Bonilla claimed that the medal was a reward for Saca’s policy of selling off most of El Salvador’s government-run utilities to transnational corporations.

“Thirty-nine people, including children under the age of 18, have been arrested and are under police custody,” CISPES’ statement claimed. “We stand with the people of Cutumay Camones in demanding the immediate release of all community members captured last week. We demand the end to the construction of the garbage dump. Further, we implicate the United States government for condoning, if not directly instructing, these actions by training police at the ILEA.”

The attacks in Cutumay Camones follow similar clashes in Suchitoto, where mass arrests took place against people protesting water privatization. The “Suchitoto 13” face charges of terrorism for organizing a protest and blockading a road last July to stop the president’s announcement of his plan to privatize El Salvador’s water.

“President Saca has agreed that police used excessive force, and some cops were suspended,” Bonilla said. She went on to say that the removal of single officers is insuffficient, as the military and police continue to defend private interests by repressing the community, and the construction of the garbage dump has gone forward.

Bonilla also drew attention to the plight of undocumented workers from El Salvador, who are being deported at a rate of 120 to 180 daily.

“In April we visited the detention centers in San Antonio and Nuevo Laredo – on both sides of the border – and verified that there isn’t enough consulate presence. They make them sign deportation forms in English, and then they deport them, without giving them a chance to consult with an attorney.”

­

Bolivia’s water minister sacked

by the El Reportero news services

Evo MoralesEvo Morales

LA PAZ – President Evo Morales fired water minister Abel Mamani after compromising photographs of Mamani were shown on national television.

Mamani is one of Morales’s most radical supporters. His forced departure weakens the radical wing of the government, just as it is squaring up to the rightwing secessionists in the east of the country.

The photos showed Mamani partially unclothed, embracing an alleged prostitute. The pictures followed allegations of corruption against the former minister.

Mamani maintained that he had been the victim of a smear campaign. He said that the photos had been faked and that on 9 November he had made a formal complaint to the special anti-crime squad (FELCC) claiming that he had been approached by four individuals seeking to extort money from him in exchange for not publishing the photos.

Volcano erupts on island in Lake Nicaragua

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – The Concepcion  volcano in Nicaragua sent huge columns of ash into the sky in eruptions that prompted a ripple of small earthquakes, local seismologists said Sunday.

The volcano, one of two on an island in the region’s largest lake, erupted Saturday night and related earthquakes continued to rattle the area on Sunday. No one was injured by the blast, Nicaragua’s Institute of Territorial Studies said in a statement.

The 1,610-meter (5,282-foot) volcano is located 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of the capital, Managua, on an island popular with adventure tourists in Lake Nicaragua, Central America’s largest lake.

Ash rained down on local communities on Sunday, as strong winds carried it to toward the capital, the institute said.

The Concepcion volcano, which shares its lake island with the dormant Maderas volcano, last erupted in 2005.

In Mexico, official says Colombian ring laundered euro45 million in drug money from Spain

­MEXICO CITY – Authorities have uncovered a large criminal ring in Colombia that has laundered euro45 million (US$67 million) in cocaine profits from Spain over the past four months, a top Colombian official said.

The network’s success relied on 16,000 “ordinary” Colombians who were willing to receive and then turn over amounts of up to euro5,000 to euro10,000 euros (US$7,430 to US$14,860) apiece, said Mario Alejandro Aranguren, an intelligence official with Colombia’s Treasury Ministry.

The participants agreed to receive the cash in Colombian pesos at currency exchange houses and then turn it over to members of the ring in exchange for a small commission, Aranguren said during a symposium on money-laundering and drug trafficking in Mexico City.

Aranguren also noted that Spain has become a major market for Colombian cocaine.

The drug is not just sold there, “it also is distributed to Spain’s interior and from there, to other European countries,” Aranguren said.

HATE CRIME AGAINST HISPANICS REACH ALL-TIME HIGH

by Adolfo Flores

Anthony MirandaAnthony Miranda

Hate crimes against Hispanics reached an all-time high in 2006, according to an annual survey released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Such crimes against Latinos spiked by 10.3 percent over 2005, with Latino victims increasing by 12 percent, the FBI reported.

Latino law enforcement and civil rights authorities attribute the trend to constant and strong anti-immigrant messages promoted by the media.

Last year Latinos comprised 62.8 percent of victims of crimes motivated 5by ethnic and national origin bias.

“Two factors contribute to this’” Anthony Miranda, executive chairman of the National  Latino Officers Association, told Weekly Report. “The first is that Latinos are becoming more visible.” The second, he said, is that “people are equating anti-terrorism with anti-immigration,” and those who question the notion are viewed as anti-American or anti-establishment.

John Trasviña, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, stated, “Anti-immigrant hatred heard on the radio and cable shows reaches America’s neighborhoods with real consequences.”

Blurring the line between undocumented immigrants and terrorists, U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.), a candidate in the GOP presidential primary, released a campaign ad depicting a hooded individual blowing up a shopping mall.

“There are consequences to open borders beyond the 20 million aliens who have come to take our jobs,” a narrator says.

In total, there were 7,722 hate-related crimes based on bias against a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/ national origin, or physical or mental disability reported nationally in 2006 Of those, 51.8 percent were racially motivated, 18.9 percent were motivated by religion, 15.5 percent by sexual orientation and 12.7 percent were motivated by an ethnic/ national origin bias.

There was a 7.3 percent increase in hate crimes in 2006 over 2005.

Of the 7~330 known offenders, 53.6 percent were white and 20.6 percent were black. Race was unknown for 12.9 percent and other races accounted for the rest of the known offenders.

“Heightened anti-immigrant sentiment has blocked immigration reform and seeks to turn local police into immigration law enforcers thus making it more difficult for victims to report crimes’” Trasviña pointed out. “The FBI report should serve as a wakeup call to our nation’s leaders to take  action on comprehensive immigration reform, reduce tensions and safeguard the basic civil rights and liber- ties of all Americans.”

Additional findings of racial-bias crimes, 66.4 percent of victims were blacks’21.0 percent whites’ 4.8 percent Asians and 1.5 percent American Indian/ Alaskan Natives.

Of sexual-orientationbias crimes~ 62.0 percent were against male homosexuals’20.9 percent general anti-homosexual bias, and 13.7 percent anti-female homosexual bias.

Of religious bias crimes, 65.4 percent were anti Jewish bias victims’ 11.9 percent  anti-Islamic’ 4.9 percen­tanti-Catholic’3.7 percent anti-Protestant’ 0.5 percent anti-Atheist Agnostic’8.4 percent other’ 5.3 percent anti-multiple religions.

The Hate Crime Statistics Act, passed by Congress on April 23,1990, requires the Attorney General to compile data about crimes born from prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and more recently, people with disabilities.

A total of 12~620 agencies participated in reporting hate crimes in 2006. They covered more than 255 million people, accounting for 85.2 percent of the country’s population.

The report is at ­www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm. Hispanic Link.­

New radio show discusses Latino education gap

by Juliet Blalack

Hugo MoralesHugo Morales

The series “Diploma en Mano” begins Nov. 26 on Radio Bilingue’s talk show Linea Abierta.

The “Diploma en Mano” Radio Series will include a web page and on and off air assistance from educational counselors. The producers say they hope the show will advance education quality for Latinos.

“Despite the fact that the Latino population is growing faster than any other U.S. population, the educational and professional development of young Latinos is being impaired by poor graduation rates and low college enrollment,” said Hugo Morales, executive director of Radio Bilingue, in a press release.

City College art sale and Board of Trustees meeting

The San Francisco City College Board of Trustees will meet Nov. 29th in the college auditorium at 33 Gough St. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. For more information contact Dean Martha Lucy at 415-239-3680, or visit www.ccsf.edu.

The holiday student art exhibit and sale begins with a reception Nov. 30 from 6-9 p.m. This display of ceramics, drawing, jewelry, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor, weaving, and textiles will also be open December 1-2, 10a.m. to 5p.m. It will be in Building B, floors 1 and 2 at Laguna St. and Marina Blvd. Admission is free. For further information, please call the Fort Mason Art Campus at 415-561-1840.

Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce accepting memberships

The Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce, Northern California is now accepting membership applications. They offer programs to promote small businesses.

“Our new goal is to include virtually every Nicaraguan and/or small owned business in California. This would allow us a platform of communication to assist in the development of our community’s financial, economic and political development,” reads the application. To apply email infonica@nicamerccnc.com or call 415-259-1498.

The Arab Orchestra and La Pena Community Chorus perform together

La Peña presents a concert and CD release party with La Peña Community Chorus and Saed Muhssin’s Arab Orchestra of San Francisco. Celebrate “Beyond Walls, Beyond Wars,” the Arab Cultural Initiative and La Peña Chorus’ brand new CD. The concert begins 8 p.m. on December 1, at 3105 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. Tickets are $15 advance, $18 at the door. Call 510-489-2568 to buy tickets.

Fighting climate change in a stratified world

Directors of Google and JPMorgan, an undersecretary of the United Nations, and the vice president of CH2M Hill lead a program about fi ghting global warming without stopping development for impoverished countries and people. The program begins at 12 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club Office, 595 Market St, 2nd floor and is free.

Benefit concert for George Cables

Pianist George Cables is recovering from a liver and kidney transplant. A lineup of over 20 musicians, including Mary Stallings, Bob Hutcherson, Denise Perrier, and Mel Martin will be playing a special concert at Yoshi’s to help cover his expenses. The concert is from 1-3:30 p.m. December 8 at 510 Embarcadero West in Oakland. To order tickets for $30 visit ­www.yoshis.com or call (510) 238-9200.

­

Two films from two books by best Latin writing talents

by Antonio Mejías-Rentas

Miguel Ángel Asturias­Miguel Ángel Asturias

BOOK TO FILM: Coinciding with the national release of the movie adaptation of one of Gabriel García Márquez’s most beloved books, a second work by a Latin American Nobel laureate is making it to the big screen.

Opening last week in Venezuela, Sr. Presidente is based on the satirical novel El señor presidente by Guatemalan writer Miguel Ángel Asturias. The tale of an abusive Latin American dictator is set in Venezuela in the year 2021 and its criticism is clearly aimed at the country’s president, Hugo Chávez, who intends to rule the country until then.

Sr. Presidente is the first film produced in some 20years by RCTV, the Venezuela company struck of its broadcasting license by Chávez. RCTV programming is currently seen on cable.

Gabriel García MárquezGabriel García Márquez

“We are searching for a message about what is happening to us, not just here (in Venezuela) but also what’s happened to us over the past century in Latin America,” said Rómulo Guardia, the fi lm’s director.

Sr. Presidente opened in Venezuela on the same day that Love in the Time of Cholera opened in the United States. The latter is based on the novel by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez.

Asturias won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1967. García Márquez took the award in 1902.

In other film news:

  • Production of Steven Soderbergh’s two films about Ernesto “Che” Guevara moved to the Mexican state of Campeche last week. The films, El argentino and Guerrilla, star Benicio del Toro.
  • Mal de amores, the Puerto Rican contender for the Best Foreign Language Oscar nomination, was one of three fi lms taking the audience award at the Chicago International Film Festival.
    ­Hispanic Link.

Pacifica beaches re-open

por Juliet Blalack

The City of Pacifica re-opened four beaches Friday. City officials decided to close all beaches on Tuesday, after public works employees found tar balls on Esplande Beach. Since then, Cosco Busan contractors cleaned Esplande and employees from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Fish and Game, and the Pacifica public works department inspected the beach, according to a city press release. For updates, visit http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us.

San Francisco schools encourage literacy and athletic opportunities

Over 150 volunteers helped the California Dictionary Project (CDP) give about 4,500 dictionaries to San Francisco third graders, according to a school district press release.

“At third grade, we want to see our students reading for understanding. Having easy access to a dictionary and the skills to use it will make a big difference,” said San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Carlos Garcia.

Meanwhile, the Special Olympics of Northern California and SFUSD introduced new opportunities for disabled students to compete  in athletics. Students at ten schools are training for a soccer league.

“They look forward to it every single day, and they are picking up life and social skills that they might not be able to get in the classroom,” said special education teacher Brian Friedman.

Prayers for Berkeley tree-sitters end in police brutality

Police officers violently arrested three protestors after 40 people offered food, water, tobacco, and prayers to tree-sitters on Nov. 14.

The tree-sitters have been protesting UC Berkeley’s plans to expand a stadium.

Jimbo Simmons of the International Indian Treaty Council said the area the tree-sitters are shielding from development is a sacred Ohlone burial site.

Earlier the day of the arrests, UC Berkeley police said no one could bring food, water, or objects to the tree sitters.

When one of the tree-sitters came down from his post, a police officer shoved his face into a metal fence, according to a press release.

More officers arrived in riot gear, and used batons on the crowd. They injured a journalist’s finger and arrested two more protestors.

The night before, one of the original tree-sitters were arrested on what some activists say are false charges.

Activists discourage shoppers from entering chain stores About 35 activists stationed outside of Westfield mall held up signs urging shoppers to boycott chain stores last Saturday, according to global exchange organizers.

“If people value their local communities, they should spend their holiday dollars at locally owned, independent stores and try to buy Fair Trade, organic and green,” said Ruben Garcia of Global Exchange.

Activists also handed out flyers to people who inquired about the protest.

Senate Democrats discuss legislation to help homeowners

Democratic senators shared their plans to address the proliferation of foreclosures last Thursday.

“The FHA Modernization Act of 2007 bill makes safe, long-term FHA loans more readily available,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“We have secured $200 million in the Transportation HUD appropriations conference report for foreclosure-prevention counseling, but the President has threatened to veto this legislation,” he added.

­Latinos are particularly affected by homeownership issues. From subprime loans made in 2005, there will be 110,674 foreclosures for Latinos and 98,025 foreclosures for African Americans, according to the Center for Responsible Lending’s estimates. The Latino homeownership rate lags behind at 50%, while white homeownership is at 75%, according to the U.S. Census.

The raid: one family’s ten year of living in fear

by Pedro Arroyo

As federal immigration agents creep up California to probe into long-established communities for families without documents, my memory rolls back to that hot August day 20 years ago as though it were yesterday. My father and mother came home from work with terror scrawled on their faces. They looked as though they’d had a run-in with the devil.

Wordless at first, they gradually related how that afternoon the Immigration and Naturalization Service raided the garment factory where they worked. In the mid-1980s the INS routinely invaded factories in the Los Angeles garment district, rounding up and deporting hundreds of Mexican workers like them. They lived in fear of the INS.

-The old factory has special meaning to me. It offered my father and mother their first jobs in the United States. It was where they fell in love. It was also the first place where my brother and I worked. It gave us our first real jobs when we were in high school. We labored there for a summer and got to see the sacrifices that our parents were making to provide for us.

The factory’s spinning and weaving machinery looked like the pictures in my history book that discussed the industrial revolution. The machines dated back to the early 1920s. They were dirty and always breaking down. When operating, they created so much noise that it was impossible to be heard.

My mother worked on a spinning machine. My father’s job was keeping the old machinery running. During his 15 years there, he brought many ancient machines back to life again. My dad would tell us, “Despite the low pay, I will always have work here.”

The place was filled with dust from the various fabrics and garments that were spun and wove, and they often caused respiratory problems for employees, including my mother. The building lacked proper ventilation. It was terribly cold in the winter and a steam bath in the summer.

But that factory offered my folks a place to work, no question asked.

There was a sense of family there. My mother developed her closest friends to this day. Some coworkers came from Michoacán, the same Mexican state where my mom and dad had grown up.

A unique support network developed between people in the factory, mainly with the women. My mother sold tamales to fellow workers to supplement her income. Her comadre sold jewelry on lay-away to anyone who wanted to buy.

The factory even had its own curandera – folk healer – who performed spiritual cleansing and prescribed remedios on the spot.

Despite the familiar environment, my folks worked and lived in dread for our safety. Rumors were constant from friends and neighbors about the various INS raids taking place throughout Los Angeles. They feared the INS like nothing else in this world.

But nothing could prepare my parents and us for what took place that afternoon.

They were in their work areas when the raid began. My mother worked on the third floor and my dad on the fifth. The INS agents entered the old building unannounced and began to ask people for documentation, gradually moving up the six-story building.

Workers on the first floor didn’t have a chance to escape.

My mother told how some of her friends tried to get away through the freight elevators, only to discover that they had been shut off. People hid inside boxes full of garments, behind machines and in large garbage cans. Some covered themselves with garments of all colors and styles. Some used the fire escape to avoid capture.

My dad, mom and a few of their friends somehow managed to get to the factory’s old attic and hide inside large boxes full of garments. “We covered ourselves with every thing we could find,” my dad remembers to this day. “It was hot and sticky and difficult to breathe, but we did it anyway.”

The INS entered the dark attic, flashing their lights. They made a few comments and left in a minute or so. “But it seemed like the longest time in my life,” my father recalls.

Out of the 100 people who worked at the factory, only a handful managed to escape. The owner sent those who came out of hiding after the raid home. He said there were not enough people to do the work. I doubt if they were in the mood to work, anyway.

Had my parents been caught, it would have meant economic and emotional disaster for us. I was 12 years old at that time, with two younger brothers and a few extended family members in Los Angeles, but not much else. Who would have cared for us had my folks been deported? The thought of it still frightens me 20 years later.

After the raid, my parents became much more cautious about the places they traveled. It was already a struggle to get my father to take us places. Those outings to unfamiliar locations became even more rare.

My folks warned my brother and me to watch out for the avocado-green vans with tinted windows. They instructed us to run and hide if one drove by. We knew our surroundings well, we spoke perfect English, and shared the innocent bravado of youth. Our fear wasn’t nearly as great as that of our parents.

By custom, the men who worked in the factory met every Friday afternoon to play baseball in Chávez Ravine. The week of the raid, there was no game. The whole team, with the exception of the shortstop – my father – and the catcher had been deported.

By the middle of the following week, most of the men had returned to Los Angeles and back at work. The baseball games resumed. The men joked about the raid, but their exaggerated laughter told me they were still afraid.

Those workers who made their way back to Los Angeles a few days after being deported became my heroes. I saw in them an incredible determination to survive, to give their children security, to overcome any obstacles no matter how imposing.

In 1986 my parents applied for permanent residency status under the Immigration Reform and Control Act, known as the amnesty program. In 1988 we became legal residents of the United States. Ten years of living in the shadows were over.

We no longer had to fear the raids or the avocado-green vans that took so many people away. A green card gave my parents the opportunity to look for better-paying jobs. After almost 15 years at the factory, my dad and mom felt free to search for better opportunities and a better life for their children.

(Pedro Arroyo is a writer and producer for KCBX Public Radio in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He may be contacted by e-mail at parroyo13@hotmail.com. This commentary was first published in Hispanic Link Weekly Report in July 2004.) © 2004

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