por los servicios de noticias de El Reportero

Alvaro Colom

Yesterday saw the conclusion of the international conference on the role of trade unions in the fight against impunity, held in Guatemala City by the ITUC, its regional organisations ORIT and CLAT, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the ITUC’s Guatemalan affiliates, the CGTG and CUSG. The event was inaugurated by the President of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom. At the close of the event, the Conference Declaration was handed over to the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Edgar.

The aim of the Conference was to devise and apply political and trade union strategies to promote respect for core labour standards, to build trade union capacity to fight impunity, and to secure full investigations into the murders of trade unionists, so that those responsible are brought to justice and sentenced as soon as possible.

Guatemala is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for trade unionists; a fact confirmed just one day prior to the Conference when two armed men attacked the head office of the CGTC. The two individuals forced staff at gunpoint to open one of the offices, from which they took two computers containing valuable information.

Killing in southern Mexico sparks new fears

The state government in Oaxaca said on 31 January that the Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca had hired gangsters to kill a local police chief. The federal government’s nightmare is that its war on organised crime will become politicised and this is what may be happening in Oaxaca, one of the poorest and most politically polarised states in the country.

U.S. responds to Alba challenge with soft diplomacy

Food and war. These were the main topics of discussion during the Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas (Alba) summit in Caracas. Unsurprisingly, the world’s media preferred to focus on the latter. President Hugo Chávez accused Colombia of plotting with the US against Venezuela and discussed with his Nicaraguan peer, Daniel Ortega, creating a joint defence force in readiness for an attack on any Alba member. The U.S. did not take the bait. The State Department rejected what it described as “wild conspiracy theories”, focusing instead on a charm offensive in the region.

Conservatives form new bench in Nicaragua

On 30 January the Partido Conservador (PC) in Nicaragua decided to end its alliance with the Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense (ALN) and form its own bench in congress.

Nicaraguan dairy firms eying Venezuela

Managua, Jan 30 (Prensa Latina) Nicaraguan dairy producers are setting their sights on Venezuela, a market with 30 million consumers, where they aspire to market their excess production.

Businessman Alfredo Lacayo considers that the country must use its great exporting potential of these products, as only 20 percent of it is currently used.

Nicaragua went from exporting dairy products worth $300,000 in 1996 to $100 million in 2007, which shows its potential, according to official statistics.

He considered that if transportation conditions improve, a flourishing business in the sector may emerge, favoring both countries.

by Anne Wakefield

¡Hoy marchamos!, the cry that held together the massive Hispanic rallies in 2006, has reached mañana votamos, its first big deadline on Super Tuesday. Among the 24 states conducting primaries and caucuses Feb 5 are Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and New Mexico, all with vast Hispanic populations that will likely vote against those candidates they perceive as anti-immigrant.

During the 2004 elections, George W. Bush won 40 percent of the Latino vote. But, as a nationwide survey by the Pew Hispanic Center revealed, Republicans have lost most of that support due to their hard stance on immigration. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson has suggested that this could ruin the party’s chances to retain the presidency in 2008 and beyond.

The Pew study shows some 57 percent of Hispanic registered voters now call themselves Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party, while just 23 porciento align with the Republican Party.

Of the GOP candidates, only U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona has been supportive of immigration reform with a path to legalization for some 12 million undocumented immigrants, although following a barrage of criticism from his party’s extreme right, he flip-flopped. He leads in most polls. McCain won back-to-back victories in the South Carolina and: Florida primaries.

An endorsement by Cuban-American Melquiades (Mel) Martínez of Florida, the GOP’s lone Hispanic in the U.S. Senate, was sought by all of the party’s candidates. After several clashes with Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney over their hard-line stances on immigration, Martinez finally announced his support for Mc Cain Jan. 25. AlsolntheMcCaln camp is Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Álvarez, a popular f gure in the Hispanic community. Polls show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney running slightly ahead of McCain in California. He, like McCain, has a website in Spanish. The site includes a video of his son Craig, speaking for 38 seconds in fluent Spanish, stressing the candidate’s virtues as a father.

Romney’s grandparents were Mormons who fled the United States because of the U.S. government’s opposition to polygamy. Mexico President Porfirio Díaz allowed Mormons to establish a colony in Chihuahua. When the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, the Romneys moved to Oakley, Idaho, and eventually ended up in Salt Lake City.

Romney has enlisted a key Latino figure, Al Cárdenas, in his campaign Former president of the Florida Republican Party, Cardenas chairs the “Romney for President” Hispanic steering committee. His voice can be heard on a radio ad that targets Spanish speaking voters.

As for the other two remaining GOP candidates, Mike Huckabee at one point supported the Bush-backed immigration plan that provided a path to residency for many undocumented workers. Huckabee has ex” pressed that massive deportation is “unworkable.” He wants a secure border, not a “closed” one. When asked about his lenient past position as Alabama governor on education for undocumented workers’ children, he said we shouldn’t punish the children for the sins of their fathers.

Ron Paul supported the strict House Sensenbrenner bill on immigration and voted in favor to authorizing a 700-milefence along the border.

During their last televised Republican debate, all candidates favored reinforcing border security. Romney also urged considerable deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Mc Cain said he would not try to revive the bipartisan immigration reform bill he co-authored in 2006 because the American people want to protect the border first.

He spoke in favor of stricter sanctions for employers who hire undocumented workers, but said authorities should wait for the children of undocumented immigrants to finish their school year before deporting them. Only Huckabee flatly rejected a proposal to deny citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

While the Democratic race might go on beyond Feb. 5, the GOP race is more likely to conclude this week with a definite winner. Hispanic Link.

by Contessa Abono and Rigoberto Hernández

Sharing the spotlight with Super Tuesday, the election day for the 2008 California Presidential Primary Election was full of uncertainty for many.

Residents of the Mission District in San Francisco were voicing their concerns about the candidates, which many felt did not adequately address the issues that mattered to them most.­

Although many were excited by the news that Democratic candidate and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has won in California’s presidential primary and Republican John McCain is the state’s GOP pick, some in the Latino community thought there were issues still not dealt with by the presidential candidates.

Roberto Hernández, a Mission District resident and co-chair of a local voter registration campaign in his neighborhood, said he did not like the way the issues he cares about are addressed by the presidential candidates. “I have not seen one candidate that has a comprehensive immigration plan for Latinos,” said Hernandez.

Luis Aroches is part of the Community Response Network, which is in charge of preventing and responding to youth violence in the Mission District.

Aroches, who voted for Clinton, said the candidates have not focused on the issues that he cares about and that the candidates do not reach out for the Latino vote.

Education is another issue that Hernández would have liked to see addressed by the candidates.

“I have not heard a comprehensive plan now that we are going to get rid of the Bush Administration’s ‘No child left behind,’ a total failure,” said Hernandez. “In terms of this county Latinos are never counted.”

Hernández, who supports Obama, was part of a Latino march last May in San Francisco and remembered the slogan for the march: “Today we march, tomorrow we vote.” The slogan caught everyone in this country by surprise, including Hernández, who realized how the up-rise of Latinos took place.

“They realized it was time to do something about it. It got the Latinos to say we have power. It went beyond illegal or undocumented workers, and it got the Latinos to say they are not going to treat us like this,” said Hernández.

Anhoni Patel is a contractor who took the day off from work to campaign for Obama outside the BART station on 16th Street and Mission Street. Patel said she didn’t have strong feelings about the primaries until Obama became a candidate. “Obama can really bring change, he always mentions we. He represents what we care about,” she said.

For Karina García, 21, who works in a Guatemalan restaurant on Mission Street, it is all about showing that Latinos have a voice. “I would like someone who supports Latinos.”

Now more than ever the Latino vote is being sought after “now all of a sudden the candidates are locking into the Latino community,” said Hernández. “We are making a difference in this election. Politicians took us for granted for so long, those days are over.”

City public officials cut the re-opening ribbon (photo courtesy by SFPL)

SF Western Addition Branch Library Reopens: (L-R) Sup. Ross Mirkarimi, State Assemblyman Mark Leno, State Sen. Carole Migden, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library Director Donna Bero, City Librarian Luis Herrera, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom cut the ribbon Feb. 2 to the newly renovated Western Addition Branch Library.

The branch, located at 1550 Scott St., received a $4.3 million facelift, which included a new entry with automatic front doors, new teen area, improved main reading and children’s areas, a new state-of-the-art program room, and a beautifully landscaped outside courtyard.

­The library is now seismically safe, fully accessible and technologically updated with new computers and free WiFi access to the Internet.