by Alex Meneses Miyashita

National Council of La Raza president Janet Murguía warned April 16 that groups she claimed promote hate are shaping immigration policy and blasted the mainstream media for giving those voices legitimacy in the debate.

“Voices better left on the fringe of political discourse have moved front and center to define the debate,” Murguía said at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “Their harsh rhetoric has filled the immigration debate with code words that demonize and de humanize not just immigrants but Latinos as a threat to the American way of life.”

She added, “They depict us as an ‘army of invaders. ‘They call us a swarm and a massive horde.’ They say that we bring disease and crime to our country.”

Mainstream media has legitimized these voices as immigration “experts,” Murguía charged, adding that often these are the only points of view presented. Networks such as CBS and CNN have engaged in such lopsided exposure of the issue, she maintained.

Murguía emphasized that polls have consistently shown the majority of people in the United States favor a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, but their side is being drowned out by a small, but extremely vocal and persistent grassroots network. “A tally by NCLR found that cable television networks have used hate and extremist spokespeople as sources in their broadcast at least 120 times in three yeans.

NCLR claims groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform and the Minuteman Project have contributed to a “wave of hate” against Latinos and immigrants. Murguia called it no coincidence that hate crimes against Latinos have reached an all time high. FBI data show a 25 percent spike against Latinos between 2004 and 2006.

FAIR is a national, nonprofit organization that seeks “to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration,” and reduce the annual levels of immigration.

FAIR and other socalled “anti-immigrant” groups claim they are not against immigration, but against “illegal immigration.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center classifi ed FAIR as a hate group last December, pointing to its ties to racist and white supremacist groups.

Murguia said that while NCLR is not against different points of view on how to fi x the country’s immigration system, but stressed that it is necessary “to take the hate out of the debate.

NCLR launched a campaign to “wave of hate” against Latinos and immigrants. Murguia called it no coincidence that hate crimes against Latinos have reached an all-time high.

FBI data show a 25 percent spike against Latinos between 2004 and 2006. FAIR is a national, non profit organization that seeks ~to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration,” and reduce the annual levels of immigration.

FAIR and other so called “anti-immigrant” groups claim they are not against immigration, but against ~illegal immigration.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center classifi ed FAIR as a hate group last December, pointing to its ties to racist and white supremacist groups.

Murguia said thatwhile NCLR is notagainst different points of view on how to fi x the country’s immigration system, but stressed that it is necessary “to take the hate out of the debate.

NCLR launched a campaign to counter the socalled “wave of hate.- For more information, visit www.WeCanStoptheHate.org. Hispanic Link.

by Margine Quintanilla

Celebrating Children’s Day Children in company of their parents hold a ticket that will make them owners of a beautiful handmade toy or a ball, in the celebration on April 30, of the Children Day on 24th and Mission St­reets. (photo by Marvin J. Ramirez)

Momentos de gran alegría y diversión vivieron muchos niños y niñas de San Francisco, quienes junto a sus padres acudieron a la Plaza de la estación del BART de la Calle 24 y Missión para celebrar el 30 de abril, “Día del Niño.”During the activity, dozens of children enjoyed of a happy evening with games and raffles of toys donated by the comenciantes of the Street Mission.

This event organized by community leaders, was provided with the unconditional support of musical groups from the Mission Cultural Center, who with their instruments gave touch of holiday to this celebration, where parents and children had a good time through the last minute of the event.

by El Reportero news services

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Martín Lousteau, the economy minister, resigned on 24 April.

Significance: Lousteau’s departure is a major blow to President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Fernández is under intense pressure to change her cabinet after a poor start to her presidency but the one person Argentines did not want to go was Lousteau. Moreover, Argentines will be very worried about Lousteau’s reason for leaving: Fernández would not listen to his plan for preventing the economy from succumbing to what he described a “severe crisis”.

Venezuela’s Chávez plans to bury old empire of USA

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez harshly criticized the US administration again after the unauthorized passing of the USS George Washington along the coast of the Latin American country. Chávez promised to bury the USA in the 21st century.

“When Americans appear near our shores with their navy, the George Washington aircraft carrier, one should not forget that it happens at the time when we together with Brazil are creating the Defense Council of South America,” Chavez said in a speech that was broadcast by all TV and radio channels of Venezuela.

“In this century we will bury the old empire of the USA and will live with the American nation like with a brotherly nation, because over 40 million of its citizens live below the poverty line,” the Venezuelan leader said. Chavez also said that Latin America entered the new era that was marked with the creation of a bloc of leftist forces – Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Chile and Brazil.

“There are two women standing behind us: Cristina Kirchner in Argentina and Michelle Bachelet in Chile. We have in our bloc a worker from Brazil – Lula – and three revolutionaries – Fidel and Raul in Cuba and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

There is a soldier from Venezuela there too (Hugo Chavez). Now with the victory of a former bishop at the presidential election in Paraguay, we have a priest in our ranks,” Chavez said.

Trade becomes political

This special report was conceived as an examination of trends in regional trade and how various trade agreements have affected the direction of countries’ exports and imports. We expected to discuss what is replacing the US Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) initiative and how, generally, trade within the region, and with external markets – particularly, Asia – is developing. Instead, we found that trade agreements have become an issue of heated political debate.

How Latin America is coping with the US slowdown

Despite all the gloom in the U.S. about the arrival of another Great Depression, there has been amazingly little effect on Latin America. Most international economists expected Mexico, which still sends 80 percent of its exports north to the US, to be buffeted by the US economy’s abrupt switch onto a no-growth track. This has not happened, yet.

After Hurricane Katrina battered the United States’ Gulf Coast in late 2005, the Chavez administration was the first foreign government to offer aid to the devastated regions. The Bush administration opted to refuse this aid. Later during the winter of 2005, various officials in the Northeastern United States signed an agreement with Venezuela to provide discounted heating oil to low income families.

by Alex Meneses Miyashita

Gloria Molina

Critics of the current supervisor district map of Los Angeles County are renewing efforts to presgoessure the U.S. Department of Justice to file suit against the county.

They are pressing for the five-member Board of Supervisors to be reconfigured to provide its Latinos, who make up about half of its 10 million residents, a significant say in county elections. They insist that federal involvement is essential to force a county that operates with a budget of more than $22 billion larger than about 80 percent of states— to redraw its district map.

The county hires more than 100,000 employees and its population is surpassed by only eight states.

The Justice Department declined to discuss the status of the request other than to say it is being reviewed.

Opponents of the current configuration argue that the voting clout of Hispanics is undermined since the large majority of them are contained in only one of five legislative districts.

The current plan disenfranchises Hispanics, they add, because while one of the voting districts had a Spanish-surname voter registration of 63.9 percent in 2006, all others were below 27 percent.

Their fight calls for a more balanced distribution of Hispanics in these districts.

The one majority Latino district is occupied by supervisor Gloria Molina.

That comprises Hispanic representation of only 20 percent in the county’s board of supervisors when the county as a whole is more than 47 percent Hispanic.

“You have the largest number of Latinos in the country outside of Puerto Rico whose vote is being diluted,” said Joaquin Ávila, an assistant professor of law at Seattle University and consultant in the case. “(It) is a major problem and it needs to be addressed.”

Scores of national and local Hispanic organizations are calling on the Justice Department to file a lawsuit in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The list of supporting organizations include the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the  American GI Forum, the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), The Latino Coalition, La Raza Lawyers Association of California and the Mexican-American Bar Association of Los Angeles County, among others.

Most recently, the HNBA sent a letter dated March 12 to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey urging the Justice Department to provide an update of the investigation.

The Los Angeles County Chicano Employees Association has spearheaded the call to have the districts redrawn since 2003. It has put together more than 3,500 pages over the years documenting the case and building its argument.

The LACCEA requests that two of the five supervisor districts have Spanish-surname voter registration of more than 50 percent.

“Those positions are  really important,” said Cruz Reynoso, law professor at the University of California, Davis, and former associate justice of the California Supreme

Court. “It can form the base for higher political offices” for Latinos.

The Justice Department closed investigation of the initial 2003 request filed by the LACCEA in 2005. It reopened it in 2006.

Although the Department has not indicated when it will finish its review, supporters of the county’s redistricting say they remain optimistic given the federal government acknowledges it is investigating the issue. But they are not without concern.

“It’s taking too long for the Department of Justice to come to a decision,” Avila says.

The HNBA states in its most recent letter that it has “repeatedly urged the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct s careful raview of the LACCEA Complaint,”  and expresses “deep concern and disappointment” on its lack of response.

Avila claims the evidence that has been presented shows a “very compelling pictura” that “elections in L.A. County are racially polarized.”

“It’s important to note that the over-concentration of Latinos in that supervisor district (# 1 ) is just growing,” he adds. “If we get it before a court, I’m vary confident that (it) would rule that such over concentration violstes section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.”

Alan Clayton, equal opportunity director for the LACCEA, said the county “could spend $20 million in defense of their current districts without worry,” adding, “The county has t:remendous resources. If the Department of Justice doesn’t sue them, I’m afraid they’re going to do nothing to change their current districts.” Hispanic Link.­