­by Alex Meneses Miyashita

The Republican Party is losing the Hispanic support base it had built over the past few yeans, according to an analysis.

Released by the Pew Hispanic Center Dec. 6, it showed Democrats smothering Republicans by 34 percentage points in terms of Latino support, 57 percent to 23 percent. The gap is similar to that in 1999.

Latino Republican support was evinced during the 2004 election when President Bush received a record-high proportion of the Hispanic vote for a Republican with nearly 40 percent. Pew reported that as of July 2006, Democrats edged Republicans in Latino support by only 21 percentage points, 49 percent to 21 percent.

While the report states that Hispanics will represent only about 9 percent of the national electorate in 2008, it emphasizes they could play a significant swing vote role.

Latinos could play a decisive role, particularly in such swing states as New Mexico, Florida, Nevada and Colorado, according to the report.

For several observers, the GOP loss of Latino support can be largely attributed to their claim that Republicans have espoused anti-immigrant views during campaigns in 200B and now in the presidential race.

They charge GOP candidates with using immigration as “wedge” issue, targeting immigrants for political gain.

According to Reverend Cortés, 80 percent of the Latino evangelical electorate supported President Bush in 2004, but:, he warned the current GOP dialogue on immigration could end up hurting the party in 2008.

“The Republican Party will lose that vote,” he said. The Pew survey of 2,003 Hispanics (843 registered voters), found that 41 percent of Latino registered voters credited Democrats with doing a better job of addressing Undocumented immigration to 14 percent who said Republicans.

In addition, 44 percent Of Latino registered voters said Democrats have shown more concern for the community.

This compared to 8 percent who said Republicans have.

“(Immigration) is the most important family issue…We see it as the issue that will make or break our nation,” said Cortés.

“Whoever (presidential candidate) has the best immigration policy as we move forward is the individual who will get most support from the Hispanic community” in 2008, he added.

The survey found that 79 percent of Latino registered voters considered immigration either an “extremely” or “very important” issue.

Hessy Fernandez, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said, “Latino voters judge candidates based on their positions, and the policies of the Republican Party are much closer to the priorities of Hispanics than those of the Democrats.”

Hillary Clinton is the most popular candidate among Latino Democrats with 59 percent support, and Rudy Giuliani among Latino Republicans with 35 percent.

Latino candidate Bill Richardson has 8 percent support among Hispanic Democrats, behind Barack Obama with 15 percent.

The Pew study is available at ­http://pewhispanic.org.

Hispanic Link.

by Edgar Martínez-Bermúdez y Marvin J. Ramírez

­­Men’s Processión take over SF streets Spanish radio program, Aquí Nicaragua’s director Mario Palacios, walks holding the cross, symbol of Christianity, during the Procession of Men march, which went by 25th Street to Mission, while Monsignor Silvio Fonceca (lower photo) holds the Eucharistic chalice. photos by Edgar Martinez-Bermudez

While almost the whole world lived the first hours of a new year 2008, Catholic parishioners marched on the streets of the San Francisco Mission District, singing: Long Live, Christ King!

People of different ethnic backgrounds stopped while others stood out of their home doors and windows to watch the procession pass. Approximately 200 people followed Monsignor Silvio Fonseca, who, walking slowly, held the Eucharistic chalice.

Escorted by members of the San Francisco Police Department in two motorcycles and a patrol car, the Procession of Men, the only one of its kind in the United States, celebrated its 25th anniversary since its formation by a group of Nicaraguan Catholic men in San Francisco. During recent years, nevertheless, it has been joined by persons of other nationalities.

In 1946, members of the Jesuit order originally organized the Procession to Christ King. During Christmas of 1948, Father Jesuit Ignacio Fernandez de Pinedo, came to Nicaragua, and on the fi rst day of January, he created the first Procession of Men.

Begun in Nicaragua in the Christmas of 1948, the fi rst Procession of the Men was organized by Father Jesuit Rev. Ignacio Fernández de Pinedo, with the intention to integrate the men into the church, since mainly women participated in the church, while men did not. Originally the celebration was baptized as the Procession of Men, but its organizers in San Francisco changed it to Men’s Procession.

Between songs and praises to Christ King, every 1st of January of each year, followers intone the religious anthems, Singing of the Cantares, in which they affirm that “God Is Here;” and in You Will Reign, they allude to Jesus as the King.

Mons. Fonseca was assisted at the religious ceremony by the Nicaraguan deacon, Roger Hernández, one of the pioneering celebrants. Mons. Fonceca came from Nicaragua for a second year in a row for this special celebration of the beginning of the year.

During a mass ceremony held before the procession, Mons. Fonceca warned that Nicaragua is in danger of falling again into violence.

“The violence might return… ,” he said, stressing that Nicaragua is in a situation “ where the culprits are innocent and the innocent are culprits, where one buys justice with a few dollars… where unemployment is on the increase and this produces hunger, and hunger drives theft, and theft drives violence… the judicial power is corrupt, and the peace is felt to be threatened every day.”

The celebration took place at the traditional St. Peter’s Church; and the procession started out at Alabama Street, moved to 25th, and then followed up to Mission Street, the principal artery of the Hispanic quarter of San Francisco. As every year, the procession ­was organized by the Committee Christ King.

by the El Reportero news services

Evo Morales

On 1 January opposition prefects said that they would attend talks with the government despite the government’s refusal to accept their demands for autonomy.

The prefects are in such a weak political position that they have to accept the government’s terms for the negotiations on 7 January. The government has underlined its confidence in two ways. First, it started implementing its budget for 2008, ignoring the amendments made by the opposition-controlled senate.

Secondly, President Evo Morales attended a New Year’s Eve lunch with the military high command in which he said that if it was up to him he would not allow the current senior officers to move on to the  retired list.

“But,” Morales went on, “military traditions have to be respected and the traditional changes have to be made.” The outgoing heads of all the armed services, headed by General Wilfredo Vargas, have been in command since Morales took office in January 2005.

Mexico to track migrations over border

MEXICO CITY – Mexico plans to use cards with electronic chips to better track the movements of Central Americans who regularly cross the southern border to work or visit.

Starting in March, the  National Immigration Institute will distribute the cards to record the arrival and departure of so-called temporary workers and visitors. They will replace a non-electronic pass formerly given to foriegners who cross into Mexico, which has proven “easily alterable and subject to the discretion of migration agents,” the institute said Thursday.

The U.S. government has spent tens of millions of dollars issuing similar visa cards digitally embedded with the holder’s photo and fingerprints, but U.S. border inspectors almost never check them, and vehicle lanes are not equipped with the necessary scanners to read them, The Associated Press reported earlier this year.

Mexico detained more than 182,000 undocumented migrants in 2006, mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador en route to the United States. But many others cross legally from Guatemala and Belize to work or visit, and the new cards are meant to guarantee their security, the institute said.

Nicaragua court probes Volz case

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaragua’s Supreme Court on Wednesday said it had begun investigating two judges who overturned the 30-year sentence and conviction of an American  in the killing of his Nicaraguan girlfriend.

Appellate Judges Roberto Rodriguez and Alejandro Estrada were on a three-judge panel that freed Eric Volz, 28, of Nashville, Tenn., last week. The two cited “reasonable doubt” in overturning the conviction. The third judge voted to uphold the original verdict.

The decision sparked outrage among some Nicaraguans who allege the American received special treatment in the local justice system and should not have been released.

Rafael Solis, the Supreme Court’s vice president, said the two judges were scheduled to appear before investigators on January 8. The court will determine whether they acted inappropriately and turn its findings over to criminal investigators if any wrongdoing is found, Solistold a news conference.

Volz, a surfer-turned-real-estate-broker, and a Nicaraguan man, Julio Martín Chamorro, were sentenced in February for the death of 25-year-old Doris Ivania Jiménez, who was found raped and strangled in a clothing store she owned in Rivas, 55 miles south of the Nicaraguan capital of Managua. The court upheld Chamorro’s conviction in the murder.

­(Associated Press contributed to this report.)­

­by Alex Meneses Miyashita

In spite of isolation and some tension among Hispanics, blacks and Asians’ the three groups have mutual concerns, common values and optimistic outlooks, according to a survey and report released Dec. 12 by New America Media in Washington, D.C.

Projecting that racial and ethnic relations will continue to grow stronger, NAM founder Sandy Close urged media leaders of the groups to take leading roles in tackling national nativism and racism issues.

An overwhelming majority of Hispanics (92 percent), blacks (89 percent) and Asians (88 percent), out of 1,105 respondents surveyed by Bendixen Asians—said there is some degree of racial tension among the groups.

“We cannot ignore the fact that this is a serious problem,” pollster Sergio Bendixen said during the capital press conference. “It keeps people and their common interests to work together.”

Author and commentator Richard Rodriguez said, “It’s important not to see this information as static…We are bumping against each other, but we are also getting to know one another.”

The majority of respondents from each of these groups felt their communities were discriminated against, and most Hispanics and Asians credited blacks for leading the battle for civil rights.

Bendixen said leadership from members of these groups will play an essential role to strengthen the ties among these groups.

Cristina López, deputy executive director of the Center for Community Change, said it is time to move beyond acknowledging tensions exist and focus on finding ways to work together more efficiently.

“Sometime the media hypes those tensions more than necessary,” she assessed.

“We should do more’” she added, but defended the work community-based: organizations like the CCC do, stating, “We tend to overlook some of the positive things that are going on.”

Respondents (Hispanics 78 percent, blacks 69 percent and Asians 73 percent) agreed that ethnic media have an important role to play to bring each of these communities closer.

According to observers, mistrust derives from stereotypes these groups hold of one another due to a lack of racial and ethnic interaction.

For example, half of blacks responded Latino immigrants ere taking jobs away from them. Nearly half of Hispanics~ 44 percent, and Asians, 47 percent are “generally afraid” of blacks as they relate them to crime. Nearly half of Hispanics, 46 percent, and 52 percent of blacks responded they felt disrespected by most Asian business owners.

At the same time, the poll found little interaction among the groups. The percentage of respondents who said they went to schools with people from their same race/ethnicity was 70 percent for Hispanics and 64 percent for blacks. Majorities of Hispanics (73 percent), blacks (67 percent) ­and Asians (58 percent) said most of their friends are of the same race or ethnicity.

In spite of this, the survey found the groups shared similarities in common values and visions of the future.

For example, the survey revealed 64 percent of Hispanics, 83 percent of blacks and 76 percent of Asians prioritize spending “quality time” with family over making “as much money as possible~ at work.

Overall, 61 percent of Hispanics, 66 percent of blacks and 62 percent of Asians predicted racial and ethnic relations will improve in the next 10 years. Hispanic Link.

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