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Don Bugito, manufacturer of snacks made with insects, is awarded with capital investment

by Araceli Martínez

– Sponsored content from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Mónica Martínez never thought that what started as a small farm design project to raise edible insects in home kitchens would grow into ‘Don Bugito’, a fast growing business in the San Francisco Bay area.

Don Bugito specializes in preparing snacks made from crickets and mealworms, inspired by pre-Columbian Mexican cuisine.

In January, Don Bugito got a strong boost when ICA, an Oakland-based nonprofit venture capital fund, invested $200,000 in equity to make it grow and expand.

Don Bugito’s story began approximately 10 years ago, when Mónica, who had come to Boston to study industrial design, never imagined becoming a business owner, an opportunity that she had not sought.

“I wanted to introduce edible insects to the food market. I featured the project to raise mealworms at a gallery in New York that appeared on the cover of the food section of the New York Times, and I haven’t stopped since. I had a lot of press and a television station that does food shows came to my house and they filmed me while I was cooking.”

And when she was asked what she was going to do next, she replied that she would open a food truck. “But I didn’t even have the capital for this. So, I became an edible insects taco street vendor for four years or more.”

Mónica believes that she was very fortunate because in 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched a publication that spoke of the importance of Western countries starting to include insects in their diet.

“It was then that people started buying their products. But she wasn’t making a lot of money. She worked from 5 a.m. until midnight. She was making $100 a day or less and had a baby.”

She says it was in 2014 when she pivoted the company to become an edible insects snack company.

Mónica brought her passion for consuming insects from Mexico where she was born and raised. “In Mexico, eating insects is a pre-Columbian tradition for hundreds of years. Don Bugito seeks to introduce edible insects in the United States.”

The insects that Mónica uses for Don Bugito’s snacks are crickets and mealworms raised on her own farm for human consumption. “Starting in 2017, we opened our urban farm in Oakland where we raise insects without hormones and without GMO food. They eat organic vegetables.”

Currently, Bugito snacks are sold online and in more than 75 stores nationwide.

“We have had to educate the public a lot about the benefits of eating insects, the nutritional aspect and sustainability. We have probably not done as well as a potato chip company, but we are still in business and growing little by little.”

Monica says that Don Bugito’s name is a play on words between Spanish and English. Don in Spanish means a great guy, bug in English is an insect. So it would be Don Bugito, which means something like the ‘Little Big Guy.’

Who buys the most insect snacks?

“We have different groups, one of them is people who want to eat healthy. We are very transparent about the ingredients we use. We do not grind our insects, so they can be seen in the snacks. We do not use any artificial flavors or preservatives and our processing is minimal.”

She adds that they also have a group of educated consumers and Hispanic people who want to rescue their own traditions, as well as young people concerned about global warming and taking care of the planet.

“Farming insects takes up a minimal amount of water. You don’t have to give them antibiotics or hormones to make them grow faster and they offer greater amounts of protein in comparison to convectional proteins, such as cattle, poultry and such.”

Generally people consume them as a snack, in salads or tacos.

“We have sweet and spicy snacks,” she explains. But they also offer cricket  flour , chile-lime crickets, granola bites with cricket flour and a coconut brittle with mealworms, .

Monica explains that every two weeks they have a harvest of insects, which is greater during the summer. “In one month we harvest an average of 100lbs.”

Currently Don Bugito has 5 workers. They have the farm in Oakland and the kitchen where they prepare the snacks and pack them is in San Mateo.

In January, Mónica, through Don Bugito, was a recipient of the Entrepreneur of Color Fund, which meant an investment of $200,000 through the ICA organization in Oakland, California that supports small businesses with training and capital.

ICA’s investment is part of the San Francisco Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF), a collaborative investment fund spearheaded by JPMorgan Chase and associated with community development finance institutions that deploys capital to minority entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on Latino and Black businesses.

First piloted in Detroit, the EOCF expanded to San Francisco in 2018 with a $3.1 philanthropic investment from JPMorgan Chase to help underserved entrepreneurs access the capital they need to grow.

“This money is critical for the business to continue to grow, especially the farm operations, and we are building a sales team. It also helped me to hire two full-time employees. Before we were all part-time, now there are three of us working full-time,” explains Mónica.

And she believes that she got the equity investment because her business has matured after facing serious challenges in raising capital, growing, and attracting clients. “This investment definitely gives me a bit of room to breathe and build a stronger strategy.”

The COVID-19 pandemic shut her down for three months last year, but then starting in December she had a spike in her sales that kept her exhausted but happy. “In January when we received this investment, it was like saying my God, there is a future outside. It helped us a lot especially with COVID.”

It was through ICA that Mónica submitted the request for the capital investment for Don Bugito. ICA’s mission is to accelerate the growth of small big businesses to close the racial and gender wealth gap.

“ICA is excited to invest in super entrepreneur Mónica Martínez to finance the development and expansion of Don Bugito, with support from JPMorgan Chase through the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund,” said John Gough, ICA’s chief investment officer. “When they get the capital and training they need, small businesses like Monica’s add new jobs and create wealth for owners and workers.”

You can buy Don Bugito’s snacks online at donbugito.com. To learn more about ICA, visit www.ica.fund.

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Visit JPMorganChase.com/Pathforward to learn more about their efforts to advance racial equity, which include affordable housing, minority-owned businesses, financial health, workforce diversity and more.

Unhoused, thrown off the levee, no place to go

by David Bacon

It was after midnight on Jan. 21 when Tulare County sheriffs walked into the encampment of unhoused people on the levee of the Tule River. “They parked on the highway,” remembers Rosendo “Chendo” Hernández, who shares a small trailer parked under a tree with his partner Josefina. “I heard them walking around in front, and then they called out to me to open my door. They said we were trespassing on private property and we had to leave.”

Sheriffs made him sign a notice, Hernández says, giving him a week to remove his possessions and find another place to live. Deputies then went to other levee residents who have set up shacks or impromptu shelters along the river. Mari Pérez, co-director of the Larry Itliong Resource Center in nearby Poplar, estimates that includes about 150 people.

“They said they’d arrest us if we didn’t sign,” Hernández recalls, and one officer, he charges, drew his gun.

“People are on edge, especially because of what happened on the St. John’s River.”

The sheriff’s warning to the Tule River residents came 10 days after police in neighboring Visalia, Tulare County’s largest city, evicted another group of people on the St. John’s River levee. Residents there were forced to take what possessions they could carry, while heavy construction equipment piled up what was left. A fire later broke out in which those possessions were incinerated.

Tulare County is not unique. Similar situations face unhoused people across the state. Here they are unfolding along rivers in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, the country’s richest and most productive agricultural region. That wealth, however, does not produce housing for the valley’s impoverished residents, who instead face the use of law enforcement to remove them and render them invisible.

The use of police to get rid of the encampments of people living outdoors is hardly new, whether in the San Joaquin Valley or the rest of California. In 2009 a sweep by Visalia police of St. John’s River camps was witnessed by Bill Simon, then chair of the Fresno chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Afterwards, “The river was as empty as the dreams of the homeless who were being evicted,” he observed. “Some people [had] lived there for as long as seven to 14 years.”

Fresno, the valley’s biggest city, not only has the largest number of residents living on the street, but a long history of efforts to make them leave. The city passed a “ban on camping” on the streets in August 2017. In 2018 police had 9,000 “contacts” with people sleeping on sidewalks, yet their numbers continued to swell.

Jerry Dyer, former Fresno chief of police, was elected mayor last year, and he announced a new initiative on Jan. 22, “Project Offramp,” to force homeless people to leave camps set up on the property of Caltrans. “Even though it’s not our jurisdiction,” Dyer admitted, he will send police and city workers to tell the people sleeping near freeways to leave. “We can’t get used to homeless people living in our neighborhoods… It’s time we reclaim our neighborhoods and reclaim our freeways,” Mayor Dyer earlier told the local Fox affiliate.

The Offramp project will supposedly find housing for the 250 people which Dyer estimates live near freeways. But they are only some of the 2,386 people living out of doors in Fresno city and county in 2020, an increase of 598 just from the previous year.

Nevertheless, in 2019 the U.S. Supreme Court backed a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holding that “people experiencing homelessness cannot be criminally punished for sleeping outside on public property if there are no available alterna
tives,” according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. NLIHC president and CEO Diane Yentel explained, “Cities must stop attempting to criminalize and hide their communities’ homeless people and instead work toward providing real solutions, starting with the only thing that truly ends homelessness: access to safe, affordable, accessible homes.”

(Due to lack of space, this article was cut. You can see the full version at http:// elreporterosf.com/sin-alojamiento-arrojado-del-dique/)

3 reasons why strong-smelling asafoetida is effective against cancer

by Winnie Martin

 

5.8.21 – Asafoetida (Ferula assa-foetida) may be more familiar to you through unsavory names such as devil’s dung and stinking gum. It merited these names because of the fetid, pungent odor it emits. But despite this reputation, F. assa-foetida sees wide use in India for both medicinal and culinary purposes.

Asafoetida is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat stomach illnesses, headaches, asthma and menstrual pain. Ayurvedic medicine also acknowledged asafoetida’s anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antibacterial properties that make it a perfect healing herb.

But did you know that this strong-smelling herb also boasts of potent anti-cancer effects? A 2017 study by a group of Iranian scientists looked at how F. assa-foetida affected breast cancer cells in mice. One group of mice received an asafoetida treatment while the other did not. Here are three reasons they found in the study that make asafoetida an effective herb against the big C.

Asafoetida shrank tumors in affected mice

The scientists found that asafoetida shrank tumor size in the treated mice by more than 60 percent. The treated mice also saw their tumor weight dwindle by almost half. Mice who received asafoetida also started gaining weight, which suggested that the strong-smelling herb helped undo metabolic damage caused by cancer.

Asafoetida caused cancer cells in the mice to die out

The scientists also noticed that a large amount of cancer cells in mice treated with the herb died out. Despite the presence of tumors in some areas, they had sections where the cells were already killed off. This suggested that asafoetida played an active role in speeding up the death of cancer cells.

Asafoetida stopped cancer cells from spreading throughout the body

Finally, the researchers looked at other organs in the asafoetida-treated mice. They detected fewer living cancer cells in the lungs of these mice, while they detected dead cancer cells in their livers. Based on this, the researchers noted that asafoetida prevented cancer cells from spreading to other parts of the body and causing further harm.

Cooking with asafoetida

Asafoetida is used as a culinary spice in India, where the country’s different languages have different names for it. Despite the different monikers for asafoetida, many people agree that just a small amount of it is enough to brighten up a myriad of Indian dishes. Indian cooks would usually add in asafoetida alongside other spices when they fry these in oil or ghee (clarified butter). The offensive smell of asafoetida then mellows down to a scent similar to onions or leeks.

Because of this quality, asafoetida is used to enhance the savory taste of curry dishes. You can add it to curries made of lentil, chickpea and other vegetables. If you are cooking mutton curry, a few pinches of asafoetida will help bring out its taste. Asafoetida also imparts an onion-like flavor to certain dishes, making it suitable for followers of certain religions who are not allowed to consume strong-smelling foods.

Pure asafoetida is sold as resin chunks, processed from the dried sap extracted from F. assa-foetida stems and roots. The dark amber asafoetida resin is difficult to grate, so it is traditionally crushed between stones or with a hammer. If you opt to use asafoetida resin chunks for your dishes, you should scrape off small quantities as the strong smell can be overwhelming.

Also, you should put asafoetida in an airtight container and keep it away from other spices. The smell of pure asafoetida is strong that it can contaminate other spices nearby.

Alternatively, you can choose compound asafoetida to use in your food – which is easier to use when cooking. It usually consists of 30 percent pure asafoetida resin combined with rice or wheat flour and gum arabic. These additional ingredients temper the strong odor of asafoetida and make it easier to store.

Don’t let the strong odor of asafoetida intimidate you, as this herb is a very strong ally against cancer!

Are your principles negotiable?

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Dear readers:

Do you believe that politicians and big business work together to manipulate the people, and, that they sale themselves for a price, leaving out ethics and moral values for the sake of money?

According to investigative journalist, James Corbett, article (below), they do. He describes here how we are being lied to and they admit it. — Marvin Ramírez They know what you are (now they’re haggling over the price) by James Corbett There’s an old joke about a wealthy man talking to a famous actress. After asking her if she would sleep with a stranger for a million dollars she delivers an enthusiastic, “Yes!” He then inquires if she would do the same for five dollars. Offended, she fumes: “Five dollars? What kind of woman do you think I am?” “We’ve already established that,” the man rejoins.

“Now we’re just haggling over the price.” Although this joke probably doesn’t fly in today’s PC climate, we all get the point. The woman has already admitted that her principles are negotiable for the right sum. Determining the lower bounds of that sum, then, should not be inherently offensive. This may seem like just a crude joke, but it’s actually an insightful glimpse into the fundamental philosophical debate of our time—perhaps the fundamental philosophical debate of all time. And it helps us respond to the lockdowners, the anti-free speechers and other enemies of civilization with an answer that actually gets to the heart of the issue.

To really understand what’s going on here, we need to go back to one of the oldest pursuits known to man. No, not that pursuit! I’m talking about moral philosophy, of course, the attempt to differentiate right behavior from wrong behavior. Along with natural philosophy (the study of the natural world that we would today understand as “science”) and metaphysics (the study of existence, God, the mind and other abstract phenomena), moral philosophy (what we com monly refer to as “ethics”) forms one of the three main pillars of philosophy.

As such, it has been one of the most discussed and debated subjects in human history. How do we know right from wrong? How should we act in any given situation? What is the right way to live? These questions have been discussed for thousands of years, and the answers that have resulted from these debates have informed, explicitly or implicitly, almost every major social, political and religious movement in history.

In the Nicomachean Ethics, for example, Aristotle founded what is today known as “Virtue Ethics,” arguing that the ethical virtues were to be found in finding the “golden mean” between vices of excess and deficiency. Thus, courage is the balance between foolhardiness and cowardice, modesty is the virtue between shyness and boastfulness, etc. The Discourses of Epictetus outline the foundational ideas of the Stoic school, including the insight that happiness lies in controlling one’s reaction toward external events and on directing one’s attention to that which is within one’s power to control.

The Letter to Menoeceus, meanwhile, lays out the Epicurean form of hedonism, namely that pleasure is the highest good and the aim of life. (Spoiler: Epicurus’ understanding of “pleasure” is not the common one, eschewing drinking, debauchery and revelry in favour of “sober reasoning, searching out the motives for all choice and avoidance, and banishing mere opinions, to which are due the greatest disturbance of the spirit.”) There’s deontological ethical theories and divine command theories (or “theological voluntarism,” if you prefer), theories of ethical intuitionism, theories of anarchist morality and many, many more.

But at the risk of boring you to tears (or have I already done that?), let’s concentrate on two main camps in the ethical debate. On one side are the moral idealists—those who believe that there are objective moral standards (however understood) that are applicable in all circumstances. On the other side are the moral relativists—those who hold that there are no absolutes in the ethical arena, that what is “right” or “wrong” is always dependent on circumstance. Of course, these are huge categories and each one encompasses many schools of thought, but in the end the debate comes down to a core question: Are there moral absolutes, or can actions only be judged based on the surrounding circumstances? Answer this question wisely, because the implications of your answer may be much larger than you imagine. Take our hypothetical actress in the joke above, for example.

Her sense of the impropriety of prostitution (“What kind of woman do you think I am?”) is demonstrably not absolute; after all, she can be persuaded to engage in the act for the right sum of money. Her interlocutor, then, can correctly point out that she is, in fact, a prostitute. The only question is the sum of money that is necessary for her to overcome her moral qualms. In short, you don’t need a Ph.D. in philosophy to understand the horns of this particular dilemma.

Either you live by certain inviolable principles which you will not under any circumstances negotiate, or you don’t. Perhaps now you see why I brought the recent Question For Corbett about  excess mortality down to the question of principle. How many dead bodies during a pandemic would it take for you to agree that your inalienable human rights are, in fact, alienable? If there is in fact a number of excess deaths at which you would concede the government has the right to lockdown cities and force vaccinate the population, then you are like the woman in the joke. The so-called “health authorities” know what you are. Now they’re just haggling over the price.

The utility of this framework for interrogating our own self-professed ideals and what they imply should be evident by now. Those who are crying for the state to come in and regulate Big Tech can’t claim to be offended when the state then tells Big Tech they have to purge COVID “disinformation” or other unapproved speech from their platform.

After all, they’ve already established what you are (a government interventionist), now they’re just haggling over the price. And is it OK for the government to tax your income by 1/10th of 1% in order to feed and clothe orphaned children? “Yes!” Then how about if they steal 99% of your income and use it to fund the military-industrial complex? “Heavens, no! That’s absurd!” But why are you so offended? They’re just haggling. You’re in favor of wearing masks and staying home for two weeks to flatten the curve during this deadly pandemic, aren’t you? Well how about if we force vaccinate you and institute a “health passport” system that will regulate your every movement and interaction for the rest of your life? Haggling. You see where this is going.

And you see why arguing with people about the terms of the situation that has convinced them to abandon their principle will not actually get to the root of the problem. The problem is that they are not arguing from principle. They have already admitted what they are. The only thing left is to haggle over their price. This is a deep and important topic, and should not be summed up tritely. There are many schools of thought making different arguments for consequentialist moral philosophy: utilitarianism, ethical pragmatism, situation ethics, etc.

These arguments are lightly dismissed at our peril, precisely because they have become the default mode of thinking for so many people. After all, how many people would answer differently than the woman in the joke if the price named was sufficiently high? How many people really do stand on principle and are unwilling to negotiate away their rights? How popular would it be to say that there are certain positions that are not negotiable under any conceivable circumstance? These are not simple questions, and we must confront them head on and articulate our positions on them before engaging others on these points.

But one other point to note from the joke is that the woman is offended by the implication that she is, in fact, a prostitute. One senses in her indignation the potential for a moment of self-realization, and that is perhaps the point to press. Like it or not, she’s just admitted to being a prostitute. The man is just haggling over the price. So rather than arguing numbers and figures with a committed COVID lockdowner, you might want to haggle with them over their price. This weekly editorial is part of The Corbett Report Subscriber newsletter.

 

 

The Opera San José collaborates with the opera to present the recital ‘Latina Composers’

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

 

SAN JOSE, CA (April 28, 2021) – The San José Opera formed an exciting partnership with LA Opera to create the Latina Composers recital, honoring the invaluable contributions Latina songwriters have made to the world of classical music. Curated by LAO Artist in Residence Russell Thomas, and with members of the OSJ Resident Company, this recital includes songs by Modesta Bor (1926-1998), María Luisa Escobar (1903-1985), Chabuca Granda (1920-1983) , María Grever (1885-1951), Ernestina Lecuona (1882-1951), Ángela Peralta (1845-1883) and Consuelo Velázquez (1916-2005). Four contemporary female composers are also represented, Gabriela Lena Frank, Tania León, Mariela Rodríguez and Irma Urteaga. Produced and captured at Opera San José’s Heiman Digital Media Studio, the Latina Composers recital will be available to stream for FREE starting May 14. For more information, the public can visit operasj.org/latina-composers-recital.

“The songs that I have programmed celebrate an incredibly rich and diverse range of musical works created by Latinas over the past two centuries throughout the Americas,” said Thomas. “His music will transport our audience to Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Peru, all while honoring the women who wrote each piece. It was fantastic to partner with our friends from Northern California, the incredible team at Opera San José, in this magnificent new project. His digital media studio was the perfect space to create this exciting task.”

The outstanding performers at the Latina Composers recital are the soprano Vanessa Becerra, the tenor Carlos Enrique Santelli and the baritone Efraín Solís, resident artists of the San José Opera; baritone Luis Alejandro Orozco; the pianists César Cancino and Bryndon Hassman; and guitarist José Chuy Hernández. Becerra and Santelli are also alumni of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artists Program.

The collaboration between LA Opera and the San José Opera creates a space where innovation and ingenuity are not only possible, but were necessary in the current circumstances, allowing the two organizations to join forces to create this concert that celebrates the immense talent of the outstanding Latin composers and artists who interpret them. The recital program was prepared with the assistance of the Indiana University Latin American Music Center.

The San José Opera is a unique professional regional opera company in the United States. Maintaining a resident company of artists and supporting emerging talent in role debuts, Opera San José specializes in showcasing the best professional singers in the nation. In addition to main stage performances, the San José Opera maintains extensive educational programs in schools and in the community at large and offers introductory lectures and Introductory Opera talks for all main stage productions.

For more information, the public can visit operasj.org/latina-composers-recital.

Immigrant Oakland tenants stand up to callous landlord

Tenants refuse to be forced out, suing on fifteen claims that could result in more than $1million in damages

Submitted by Public Advocates

OAKLAND – After months of protesting conditions at their building in Oakland’s Fruitvale district, tenants announced a lawsuit today against landlord BYLD2 LLC who they accuse of ignoring repairs to dangerous living conditions as part of a scheme to force them to vacate. The tenants, joined by attorneys from David M. Levin Law Office, Public Advocates Inc. and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, shared graphic details of the squalid conditions they’ve been forced to live under. From cockroaches running out of faucets, to rat infestations, to holes in floors, to collapsing ceilings, to broken stoves, non-existent water pressure and no hot water—the Spanish-speaking immigrant tenants at the 1821 28th Avenue apartments are enduring deteriorating conditions designed to displace them and to gentrify their neighborhood. The lawsuit, Rivas v. BYLD 2 LLC, is being filed in the Superior Court of Alameda County on behalf of 26 plaintiffs, twentyone adults and five children. “For the 15 years I’ve lived here I’ve paid my rent, and taken care of my apartment as best I could,” said Angelica Rivas, a mother of two young daughters who live with her. “I and my daughters don’t deserve this—to find dead mice in our clean dishes and food, live with 8 months of no hot water in the shower, mold everywhere because the landlord believes making money on the building is more important than we are.” “The claims we are filing today on behalf of these tenants show that the owner’s willful neglect and negligence has left these families—including children and seniors—living in conditions that are blatantly illegal under state and local laws,” said David Levin, lead counsel in the lawsuit. He added, “we are confident in the strength of the claims and we expect that this negligence will subject BYLD 2 LLC and owner Michael You to liability for a wide range of violations.” “We are asking the court to hold Michael You accountable for violating the law and to order immediate repairs,” said Public Advocates Staff Attorney Ruby Acevedo. “The outcome of this case will shine a light on landlords who subject their tenants to atrocious living conditions and who willingly violate state and local laws. Landlords need to know they cannot allow these living conditions to persist. Their profound neglect and greed will not be tolerated and they cannot exploit tenants who are of limited resources and income,” said Acevedo. “The 28th Avenue tenants should inspire other tenants who have endured unjust housing conditions that they too can organize and fight for their safety, health and dignity,” said ACCE Staff Attorney Jackie Zaneri. “Too often, we see speculators who purchase small rental properties, engage in a campaign to remove the tenants, and then sell the property for a large profit. The tenants have sent a message to speculators that the business model of displacement and purposeful neglect comes with a price,” said Ms. Zaneri.

Mexico: The remittances exceed the $40 billion

Remittances surpass US $40-billion mark; analysts’ outlook brightens for 2021. oad sent more than US $40 billion home last year, breaking the previous record for remittances by 11.4 percent. Despite the coronavirus pandemic and associated economic restrictions, Mexicans working abroad, mainly in the United States, sent $40.6 billion to Mexico in 2020, an increase of almost $4.2 billion compared to 2019 when the previous annual record of $36.44 billion was set.

Remittances increased 17.4 percent in December compared to the same month of 2019, rising to $3.66 billion, the highest level since March.

Generous economic support in the United States amid the pandemic, a “very competitive” dollar-peso exchange rate and a “deep contraction” of the economy may have acted as driving forces for Mexicans abroad to send more money home, according to Goldman Sachs’ chief Latin America economist Alberto Ramos.

He said the record remittances in 2020 would help offset tourism sector losses. Remittances, over 95 percent of which came from the United States, accounted for about 3.8 percent of GDP last year, according to calculations by economists. Money sent to Mexico from abroad was even more important last year than it is usually as the economy slumped by 8.5 percent and many people lost their jobs or saw their income fall considerably.

Analysts are forecasting a better 2021 in economic terms, even though Mexico currently faces a new peak of the coronavirus pandemic with no end in clear sight.

Thirty-six groups of Mexican and foreign analysts and economic experts consulted by the central bank are predicting, on average, growth of 3.5 percent this year, up from a 3.44 percent average response in the Bank of México’s previous survey. The consensus forecast for 2022 is 2.5 percent growth, slightly lower than the 2.6 percent previously predicted.

Former Puerto Rico Governor Carlos Romero Barceló diez

by the El Reportero’s wire services

Former Governor Carlos Romero Barceló, the tough statesman leader who for more than 50 years was on the front lines of the battle for statehood from the three most relevant elective positions in Puerto Rico’s politics and who, until his last day of health, continued to preach with his A characteristic passion for the annexation of the island to the United States, he died today at the age of 88, his family reported.

“At 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 2, 2021, by the hand of my mother, my son Cristopher and I, my father passed away.

We appreciate all the prayers that were kept throughout this process. We ask for a little time to assimilate everything and we will soon be offering more

On a day like today, May 5, Nicaraguan businessman José Zacarías Guerra dies

José Zacarías Guerra Rivas was born on Nov. 5, 1859, in Managua, Nicaragua, the son of Benjamin Guerra Bellarte and Dolores Fitoria Rivas, who died when he was just a baby, remaining in the care of his aunt Mercedes Rivas de Murillo.

Dolores was a single mother, because Benjamin did not establish a close affective relationship, the Guerra and Rivas families were native to Managua, well known and of good economic position, details the writer Francisco Bautista Lara.

Zacarías had a wealthy life, he belonged to one of the most distinguished families, his father was a minister during the government of Roberto Sacasa, he remarried Rosa Camacho and had three children: Rosa, Mercedes and Mariano Guerra.

In 1896 his father died, leaving him an inheritance which he knew how to manage very well; Zacarías stopped living with his paternal family and only bought some properties.

Zacarías was hard-working and extremely thrifty, very not sociable, he lived alone, he did not allow visitors, in addition he did not have any vice or luxuries in the house, and he had almost no contact with his relatives.

One of his properties was a 120-acre coffee farm located in El Crucero, from which he obtained a large income, by 1907, Zacarías gained a reputation for being tight-fisted.

In 1909 he wrote his will, he did not want to hire any lawyer, because he said that they charged too much, the will was given to Dr. Modesto Barrios, so that he could deliver it in turn to the district judge, and that it be read after his death.

José never got married, nor did he have children, but during his childhood there was a girl that he liked so much, but that he never saw again.

In 1913 his nephew Benjamín José Guerra (son of his half brother Mariano Guerra) was born, and although José was classified as tight-fisted, his nephew when holding a ring that shone on his finger, took off the garment and gave it to him, the report details “Zacarías Guerra and his nephew Benjamin: I was not the father of one, I will be of many”.

The health of Zacarías Guerra began to complicate because of diabetes, but for not spending on doctors, he resorted to home remedies, which did not relieve him, finally he died on May 5, 1914, at the age of 55 years, he was buried in the San Pedro de Managua Cemetery.

On May 9 his will was read, the man described as tight-fisted, he left most of his fortune for the construction of a home for orphans and low-income children, C $ 5,000 Córdobas for his aunt Mercedes, to whom he had a great affection and for his sister Rosa; the administrator of his estate was Dr. Rafael Cabrera.

The news spread like wildfire, people were surprised, and those who made fun of him went to put flowers on his grave and gave speeches in gratitude for his noble work.

Part of his will read:

“I want these properties to be sold at public auction by posting notices in the newspapers so that they sell better, since it is my only wish that my capital is invested in an asylum or house for orphaned children, being able to start establishing it in my largest house which is on 5ª Calle Norte number 84. I protest that my will is contrary or they want to annul it under any pretext, damn it a thousand times ”.

In June 1914, in honor of him, the Hospicio Zacarías Guerra was founded, whose board of directors was Monsignor José Antonio Lezcano, Salvador Castillo and Juan Zelaya.

With the sale of the war assets, the construction of an asylum began on some land of a 100-block estate, but when it was finished, it was not to the taste of the Government and they moved to another house, but in 1931 the earthquake occurred that destroyed the capital, and the Hospicio functioned the following year, after several years without a defined place for the home, during the government of Luis Somoza, the Hogar Zacarías Guerra was built for the Colonia Centroamerica, and in 1963, the Hogar opened its doors, the board of directors was made up of: Isabel Urcuyo de Somoza, Ing. Fernando Montiel, Dr. Fernando Medina, Dr. José Antonio Tijerino, Gonzalo Torres, Pastora Pérez Cano and Pilar Altamirano.

Currently the Hogar Zacarías Guerra is dedicated to helping many young people at risk and with limited resources, they are taught education, music, sports and different work disciplines.

In 2013 the novel “Manantial” was published, based on Zacarías Guerra, by the Nicaraguan writer Francisco Bautista Lara.

Little is known about Zacarías’ relatives, his two sisters Mercedes and Rosa did not have children, but his younger brother Mariano had five, was vice mayor of Managua and was part of the board of directors of Hogar Zacarías Guerra, but later, he had problems of debt and fell financially, lost his home in the 1931 earthquake and died the following year, details El Nuevo Diario in its report: “Zacarías Guerra, his family and rebellion.”

Harley Ezel

‘My Park Moment’ photo contest you will want to be part of

Compiled by the El Reportero’s staff

San Francisco, CA and New York, NY (April 14, 2021) — The Partnership for the Presidio, in col­laboration with non-profit Photoville, announces a call for entries to its My Park Moment photo contest, an opportunity for anyone to submit a photo of their fa­vorite park experience any­where in the world. From April 14 to May 28, ama­teur and professional pho­tographers alike are invited to submit images that show personal experiences in lo­cal and national parks: from a family picnic, to a walk in the Presidio, to a visit to Al­catraz or a trip to Yosemite.

A selection commit­tee of artists, educators, and non-profit leaders will choose 400 photos to dis­play outdoors in a dynamic, large-format show in the Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is one of the most visited national parks in the country. The free show starts in September 2021 as a lead-up to the open­ing of the Presidio Tunnel Tops in Spring 2022. The show will take place at loca­tions surrounding the future Presidio Tunnel Tops area, where visitors can see the progress on the new trails, overlooks, and play areas while enjoying the show.

“The Partnership for the Presidio holds the value that parks belong to all of us. Parks are a shared trea­sure that bring us together, no matter our background or point of view,” said Mi­chael Boland, Chief Park Development and Visitor Engagement Officer for the Presidio Trust. “My Park Moment creates a place for people to share their park disidentestory and to celebrate the many moments to come at Presidio Tunnel Tops.”

The My Park Moment photo contest has several categories: Community Snapshot (Adult), Community Snapshot (Youth), and the Visual Story Award (Adult), which will award four photographers with a $2,500 cash prize for their multi-photo series.

Read more about the opportunities and how to submit at PresidioTunnelTops.gov/my-park-moment.

 

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