HispanicVista Columnists & Guest Columns

Week of September 28, 2005

 

Guest Commentary

Week of September 28, 2005

LULAC needs no defending, but doesn’t deserve unjustified attacks either

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com

   September 28, 2005

“Can we shoot them?” Was the question posed to Chris Simcox, founder of Civil Homeland Defense, following a training session for volunteer border-watchers in Houston. Simcox and his would be Minutemen volunteers are attempting to put their best foot forward and trying awfully hard to come across as God fearing, law abiding, patriots only interested in securing the nation from the menace of illegal immigrants. The training sessions are to (wink, wink) teach volunteers to not break laws, to not use force, to not physically hold anyone – in other words carry bats, machetes and concealed weapons (with permit) but be nice.

By Pete Martinez

Special to HispanicVista.com

As a Republican, I’ve had my differences with LULAC and other Hispanic civil rights organizations mainly because in my opinion they are quasi-Democratic Party organizations. But never had I faulted them for their mission statements and objectives and have always respected their work. So reading the grossly exaggerated and mean spirited commentary written by Carlos L’Dera appearing on HispanicVista accusing LULAC of neglect to its mission and objectives, and dismissing it as an insignificant civil rights organization, struck a negative core.

By Richard N. Baldwin T. /HispanicVista.com

   September 28, 2005

 

FROM MEXICO

The blame game over the US government response (or I should say governments) is in high gear. Day by day there are more sad details coming out that reveal faulty or delayed actions at federal, state and local levels. Of course, calls are made to investigate what and who went wrong. Outside of trying to do the best and most rapid actions now and get into investigations after the dust settles, it appears to me that any of the processes of investigation called for are flawed. All investigations suggested so far would have vested interests and try and cover up. I like Bill O'Reilly's suggestion of an independent board made up of retired military general officers. They would have nothing to hide and would be immune to pressures. That said, I would like to address what led to this "unacceptable" performance across the board (President Bush's word). And for this, we have to go back a number of years.

By Francisco Juarez
Carlos writes:

"I was heavily involved in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. Back in those days, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who was unfamiliar with the NAACP. The NAACP was prominent and active. Although its leadership recognized the importance of relationships with officials, they never lost sight of their mission and were always cognizant of their priorities. But who ever heard of LULAC in the 1960’s?"
People were and are different.  The abuses suffered by the African American have been highlighted over other ethnic groups because (1) of the simple contrast of black and white and (2) black slaves were bought and sold at a time when the 13 colonies were formed. 

By Raoul Lowery Contreras/HispanicVista.com

   September 28, 2005

 
Fox News’ Shepard Smith is whiner of the month. Sickening is the word to describe his plaintive whines about where was the help in the first hours after New Orleans flooded. Where was the information, where were the people to pick up one body on the bridge he camped out on during the New Orleans Flood? Close behind are every other television so-called journalist that rushed into Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath.

The New Orleans Mayor flunked his greatest test of leadership and accomplishment but reporters missed his failures early on. The total failure of the Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco demonstrates why no Louisiana politician should ever be allowed to lead anything but a New Orleans funeral procession…

Carlos

You had NO RIGHT to send out a letter to Ron Crates or anyone else regarding a local issue with the school district. We previously had asked you personally for a procedure regarding school boards  and you responded.  Our council made a sound decision that we would address the issue ourselves as we have always done in the past and therefore we had no reason to send you any documentation.

At no time did we request you take our issue to the LULAC Education commission, a commission whose members we do not know and your title of chairperson not recognized by the state board.

An Open Letter to the Board of Directors of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

By Roberto Miranda

To: The Board of Directors of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

      The Board of Directors of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Wisconsin

      Chief Executive Director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

You finished your 26^th Annual Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Convention in Milwaukee.  Time and history will determine whether it was meaningful to anyone.  Despite the best face placed upon it by the Journal/Sentinel publicist for the HCCW, Georgia Pabst (MJS reporter), there were many projections you did not reach and serious issues you did not address. 

CHISMES DE MI GALLINERO

By Julio C. Calderon

Now that Katrina and Rita have left town, we can concentrate on the politics at hand.  By this, I mean politics in California where we are headed at full speed now toward a Special Election.  This election will define next year’s, and beyond, politics in the state. And as often happens, some of what is settled this November may move east to other states.

Two propositions that may go forth to other states are Proposition 73, the parental notification initiative; and, Proposition 77, that will hand responsibility for carving the political turkey (Reapportionment) to a panel of retired judges.

By Domingo Ivan  Casañas/HispanicVista.com

   September 28, 2005

    

 

For many of the Latino’s that have arrived in this great land.   They have faced some major hurdles one being getting their name done correctly at the social security office or at the department of motor vehicles.   You must understand that in Latin America countries the mother’s maiden name, which used to of course be her fathers last name is added at the end of the new married name of the man she marries.   Are you confused already?   Let me explain, unlike here in the United States where if Richard Jones marries Mary Smith and now you have the Jones family.   In Latin America countries it does not work in this matter.  

By Hector M. Barajas

In the nine months leading up to November’s referendum, special interest groups and political action committees have ganged together to saturate our airwaves with commercials depicting teachers, firefighters and nurses calling on the Governor to cancel the election.  As a result, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has seen his approval-rating drop from a high of 65% to 39%.

While hired actors read scripts that dismiss proposals for change, self-interested legislators look for ways to rally a constituency tired of unkept promises for a better life. While the Governor’s rating has declined, they are still almost double that of the Democrat-controlled legislature which continues to face job approval ratings in the mid 20s. Why the low numbers?

By Elaine I. Davila

I have lived in the United States since June 1956, I still remember the struggle my parents went through to attain their legal residency and that of their six children - I’m the eldest.
We were taught to be honest, true to ourselves, to respect the elderly, but most important, that everything we want from life, we must earn, from respect, good grades, to good education, and that privileges go hand in hand with responsibilities. My father refused "his" inheritance from his mother, as he did not earn it. We grew up to be honest human beings, proud of our heritage, but also appreciative and loyal to our adoptive country, where our children and grandchildren live.
I am passionate about things, as another thing I was taught, was: The things you work hardest for are the ones you learn to appreciate the most.

Information provided by Steven Ybarra

Friday, August 26

GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: [Office of the Governor]
GULF COAST STATES REQUEST TROOP ASSISTANCE FROM PENTAGON: At a 9/1 press conference, Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander, Joint Task Force Katrina, said that the Gulf States began the process of requesting additional forces on Friday, 8/26. [DOD]

Saturday, August 27

5AM ­ KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE [CNN]…

By Laura Bohorquez

According to a study published by The State of Public Interest Research Group's Higher Education Project (March 2004), fifty-eight percent of Hispanic students graduate with unmanageable debt compared to thirty-seven percent of non-Hispanic, white students. The largest portion of the money owed comes from student loans, which often creates a heavy burden for Hispanic college graduates since many are more likely to come from low-income backgrounds. Twenty-three percent of Hispanic dependent students come from families with a household income of less than $20,000 annually.

By Randy Jurado Ertll

During times of tragedy, undocumented immigrants do not exist.  In the 1990s thousands of immigrants flocked to work in New Orleans and the other states that were impacted by Hurricane Katrina.  Most were Honduran and Mexican immigrants looking for jobs to send money back to their home countries.

Ironically, in 1998 thousands of Hondurans/Central Americans were force to emigrate to New Orleans and other Southern states due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in Central America…

IRC Americas Program Commentary

By Tom Barry

As anti-immigration sentiment rises, the voices advocating a liberal immigration policy confront new challenges.

The most obvious challenges—including new anti-immigrant legal measures, rising anti-immigrant bias in the media, and an expanding backlash movement against immigration—are not necessarily the most difficult ones.

More daunting are challenges facing pro-immigration groups and immigrant advocates as they seek to establish a framework for discussing immigration.

If immigrant advocates and immigrants themselves are to move from the sidelines to the center of the intensifying immigration debate, and by doing so help staunch the growing influence of the retrograde restrictionist forces, they must meet five major challenges.

By Larisa Alexandrovna

An immigration memo intended for embattled White House advisor Karl Rove arrived instead on the fax machine of a Democratic congressman, RAW STORY can reveal.

The congressman who received the fax opted not to comment, and asked that his name not be used.

The focus of Smith's memo, addressed to "Hon. Karl Rove," is on immigration politics.

Immigration needs to be considered in the context of: (1). Media Bias, (2). Animosity toward the president and (3) the feelings of the Republican base," Smith's memo states.

By Nathan Tabor

We hear a lot of talk these days about the need to protect and strengthen the traditional American family. Certainly, it is true that the institution of marriage is under attack from every side. But the real threat comes from the multitudes of couples that fail to honor their marriage vows.
Adultery is one of the most terrible ³facts of life² in contemporary America.  If you watch the daily soap operas on TV ­ many of which are just soft-core pornography ­ you might get the impression that there are more people cheating on their spouses than remaining faithful. And you might be right.

By María Elena Salinas

Vida en el Valle, Commentary

There are thousands of them. They worked in restaurants, washing dishes. They cooked, baby-sat and mowed lawns. They helped build houses and cleaned casinos. They lived in homes, paid taxes, contributed to the economy. Millions of people have benefited from their work, yet no one acknowledges their existence.

They are nameless faces who -- just like hundreds of thousands of others in the Gulf Coast -- lost everything they had to the rabid winds of ...

By C.J. Moore

The Herald Tribune

When did the facts of life first enter literature? I mean the basic facts of life - like if you don't pay your bills you get into serious trouble.

 At first literature dealt with gods, and they had no money problems. Then there were godlike heroes who simply took what they wanted and filled their ships with slaves and booty. There follow several centuries filled mostly with the lives of saints and hermits, to whom worldly goods were of no interest.

By Linda Chavez

 What happened to the nearly 200,000 Hispanics living in and around New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit last month? I asked the question of one reporter who had called me to comment on the role race played in the evacuation fiasco, but she didn't know. In fact, at the height of the crisis, few in the media seemed the slightest bit curious about this population, despite hundreds of stories about poverty, race, and the failure of government to rescue the most vulnerable.

COMMENTARY

THE BEST FROM THE NET

September 28, 2005

Michael Hiltzik:

Golden State

Border Policy Is Pinching Farmers

When a government policy becomes so divorced from reality that it hurts everyone it touches and even undermines the national interest, there are usually three factors that prevent it from being scrapped: prejudice, ignorance and inertia.
U.S. immigration policy reached this point long ago. Home building, landscaping, hotel services and our food supply are all dependent on illegal labor, yet the public is so convinced that illegal immigrants are a threat to the economy that citizens monitoring border crossings with binoculars are celebrated as "Minutemen." Efforts to bar illegal immigrants from public hospitals and schools and deprive them of government services are perennials of election season.

Editorial: Goodbye, good riddance to Minutemen in Goliad ,Texas chapter
San Antonio Express-News

Organized to protect our borders against undocumented immigrants, the Minutemen were apparently powerless against another "enemy" — internal strife.
The Goliad chapter of the organization, formed three months ago, has disbanded, according to the Brownsville Herald.
Kenneth Buelter, president of the group, dissolved the organization after a brief but stormy tenure.
While he declined to comment about his decision, it came after the previous president, Bill Parmley, resigned his post, citing racism and a lack of organization within the group.

Bigotry In The Name Of Jesus H. Christ

 By Bob Cesca

HuffingtonPost.com

This week, 14-year-old Shay Clark was expelled from a Christian private school in California because her parents happen to be lesbians. And deservingly so, because we all know how much of a threat lesbian parents are; what with the fully loaded lesbian firearms they pack in their children's lunch boxes and how, by sending their child to a Christian school, they're clearly devil-worshipping heathens -- sub-humans bent on the destruction of all things American and Christian.

Democrats In Disarray

By E. J. Dionne Jr.

Op-Ed Columnist

Washington Post

 Democrats and liberals are ecstatic that President Bush has finally faced his moment of accountability. The travails of Hurricane Katrina followed a bad summer for the president and have called into question his leadership style, competence and intense partisanship.

La Nueva Orleans

Latino immigrants, many of them here illegally, will rebuild the Gulf Coast -- and stay there.

By Gregory Rodriguez

Los Angelels Times

NO MATTER WHAT ALL the politicians and activists want, African Americans and impoverished white Cajuns will not be first in line to rebuild the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Latino immigrants, many of them undocumented, will. And when they're done, they're going to stay, making New Orleans look like Los Angeles. It's the federal government that will have made the transformation possible, further exposing the hollowness of the immigration debate.

Target practice for a soldier's mom

By Sue Diaz

Christian Science Monitor

I was in the arms of my son the first time I fired a gun. How Roman and I arrived at that moment is something I'll still be trying to figure out probably 'til the day I die.

I have my reasons for hating guns. Several years ago, a friend's little girl lost her eye in a BB gun accident. A couple years after that, our neighbor across the street - a university professor - was killed, along with two of his colleagues, when a graduate student shot them at San Diego State University.

Los Angeles Times Editorial

Immigration reform, again

IF THE WHITE HOUSE IS finally serious about a comprehensive plan to fix the nation's immigration system, and there are signs that it is, then President Bush needs to get serious about working with Democrats — and standing up to the more unreasonable members of his own party. Immigration reform is still possible this fall, but not without the president's bipartisan leadership.
This isn't the first time Bush has said he is ready to tackle the issue. He spoke about the need for reform in February 2001 and again in January 2004, each time raising expectations that he was prepared to remake the nation's immigration policies into a system that would be "safe, orderly and legal."

What's love got to do with it?
By Paul Jacob

James Madison, father of our U.S. Constitution, must be rolling over in his grave. You see, he forgot to put love in it.

By congressional edict, schools and universities across the nation were recently required to spend some time on or around September 17 teaching about the Constitution. That's the date our nation's founding document was ratified back in 1787.

Robert Byrd, West Virginia's Ku Klux Klan leader turned Senator, authored the legislation. Byrd's considered something of a constitutional scholar by his congressional colleagues. (Mobsters, no doubt, thought Al Capone an expert on criminal justice.)

ANDRÉS MARTINEZ:

A bilingual message for Ms. Xenophobe

Does hearing Spanish make you twitchy? Maybe California just isn't the place for you.

SO MUCH FOR Santa Monica being ground zero for tolerance and progressivism.
Recently at a Whole Foods Market — itself supposedly a beacon of touchy-feeliness — a woman accosted my son Sebastian's baby-sitter for speaking to him in Spanish.

Sebastian, all of 11 months, was eyeing some fruit being offered for tasting, so Ursula asked him, "Quieres probar?" That's when this perfect stranger — let's call her Ms. Xenophobe — swooped in to impart her hateful ignorance: "You shouldn't speak Spanish to that child," she said, "I am sure that's not what the parents want."
She is sure, is she?

Sour Grapes and Lemonade

By Paul Jacob

It seems no example of doing good in this world can fail to inspire resentment and interference.
The devastation along the Gulf Coast has inspired an outpouring of charity. People have raised funds in all kinds of ways.
You've probably heard a story or two about how kids with lemonade stands have been raising money for the victims. But not everybody appreciates such initiative. In Orlando, Florida, kids started up a lemonade stand for just this cause, but without universal applause. A neighbor made a formal complaint based on his alleged uncertainty about whether the money would really be going to help Katrina victims.

NEWS  

 

Week of September 28, 2005

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

1. National Association of the Deaf

My name is Shannon Chenoweth with the Captioned Media Program (CMP). We are funded by the U.S. Department of Education and administered through the National Association of the Deaf (NAD…

 

2. Let’s Keep the Long Beach Mosaic Public/Amigos de Long Beach

When completed in 1938 the Long Beach Mosaic was the largest single achievement of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Arts Project (FAP).  It is the largest hand-cut tile (tesserae) mosaic in the country…

LETTERS TO EDITOR

 

Gary L. Vyne, Palm Springs, CA

Thank you for your article which points up a particular angle of the terrible problem of illegal immigration.

The Bush Administration has utterly failed to protect our borders for the last five years. If we don't stop this flow, this country will turn into a Third World Nation, a status we are rapidly approaching...

 

Bill Bailey, San Diego

Patrick,nee Jose, my heart bleeds for the hispanics.  What do they expect, $50 an hour for mowing lawns and cleaning toilets?  If they don't make enough money to raise their 10 kids, let them go back to Mexico.  No body asked them to illegally cross the border.  No one owes them a living. 

(Non-Hispanic) Whites Account for Most of Military's Fatalities

African Americans are 17% of the troops and were 9% of the dead, a study says. Hispanics, who are 9% of force, were 10% of those killed.

By Tony Perry

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

The majority of soldiers and Marines killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were young, white, enlisted personnel from active-duty units, according to a study released Friday by the federal Government Accountability Office.

Bush, Rove Press Congress on Guest-Worker Proposal

By Mary Curtius
Times Staff Writer

 WASHINGTON — September 23, 2005 - White House political strategist Karl Rove is offering lawmakers new details of an administration-backed guest worker program that would temporarily legalize the status of millions of illegal workers, according to Republicans who have attended the meetings.

Mexico's ID Makes Major Gains in U.S.

Use of the matricula consular is helping many to assimilate, which is one reason those against illegal immigration oppose the card's use.

By Jennifer Delson and Anna Gorman,

Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

Despite opposition from groups that oppose illegal immigration, the matricula consular — an identification card issued by the Mexican government — has become increasingly common and widely used in California.
The number issued statewide has jumped from just under 190,000 five years ago to nearly 360,000 last year. Nationwide, the the number has gone from 528,000 to more than 4.7 million last year, according to the Mexican government.

Tyson Foods sued for race bias and retaliation against Blacks, “Whites Only” restroom at issue.

Rare EEOC Case for Segregated Job Facilities In Deep South

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – August 11, 2005 - After complaining to Tyson Foods, Inc. about the posting of a "Whites Only" sign on one of Tyson's restrooms at its Ashland, Alabama, facility, two black employees were subjected to adverse personnel actions by Tyson management, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleges in a discrimination lawsuit announced today.

The EEOC's suit, EEOC v. Tyson Foods, Inc., CV-05-BE-1704-E (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama), alleges that Tyson's violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against…

The American Character
Eyes Wide Shut
Glenn Spencer, frightened by what he saw in L.A., moved to Arizona to keep watch over the border
By Ben Ehrenreich

LA Today

Glenn Spencer was late. I had been waiting for 30 minutes outside the Jumping Jack gas station in Palominas, Arizona, when his green minivan rattled up beside me. A ruddy-faced man of 67 with a dusty Army cap pulled over his white hair and a small bruise beneath one eye, Spencer rolled down a window, barked an apology and zoomed back onto the highway.

Top 10 Medical Schools for Hispanics

September 2005, HISPANIC BUSINESS Magazine

1. Stanford University
 2. Johns Hopkins University
 3. University of New Mexico
 4. Texas A&M University Health Science Center
 5. University of North Texas Health Science Center
 6. University of Kansas
 7. University of Arizona
 8. East Carolina University
 9. Edward Via Virginia
 10. Ohio State University

Poverty schools scoring better

Higher standards may be paying off

By Naush Boghossian, Staff Writer 

LA Daily News

Despite tougher standards, the number of high-poverty Los Angeles Unified schools that failed for the first time to meet the federal benchmark under the No Child Left Behind Law fell sharply, according to preliminary figures released Tuesday.

Just 19 of the LAUSD's K-12 schools were designated for "Program Improvement" - the label for campuses that fail to meet the minimum proficiency, test participation or graduation rate standard two years in a row - compared with 75 last year.

Routine immigration violators prosecuted

Critics say the get-tough policy along border is a waste of personnel

By James Pinkerton

Huston Chronicle
 BROWNSVILLE - Twenty-five men and women stood at the back of a crowded federal courtroom one morning last month, and in a single emphatic voice pleaded guilty to immigration charges in a mass hearing. After each was sentenced, most to time served, the "cattle call" was over in little more than an hour.

They included a Mexican youth who washes windshields for tips on Brownsville streets — and had logged 29 previous arrests for illegal entry

Minutemen planning national action at U.S. borders
By Dave Montgomery
Knight Ridder Newspapers

In late September 2004, retired CPA Jim Gilchrist was stopped at a red light in California traffic when the idea struck him: a force of citizen volunteers named after the Revolutionary-era Minutemen. Only instead of fighting British redcoats, these modern-day volunteers would be arrayed along the border to fight illegal immigration.

Geraldo calls Minutemen 'vigilantes'
Fox News reporter speaks to Hispanic journalists

Geraldo Rivera, senior correspondent for Fox News, told a group of Hispanic journalists vigilantes had created "hysteria along the borders" and advised his colleagues not to "let your newsroom push you around on the issue of immigration."

Governor Promises Closer Ties to Baja

Meeting for the first time, leaders of the two states discuss immigration, the border and other issues.

By Louis Sahagun

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

MEXICALI, Mexico. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy emerged from a two-hour summit here on Friday pledging cooperation on a range of shared issues, including border security, pollution and immigration.
But the big question on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border after Schwarzenegger's first visit to this sweltering agricultural and industrial hub of about 850,000 people was this: What took them so long?

English bypassed in L.A.

Koreans learning Spanish

By Rachel Uranga, Staff Writer 

LA Daily News

Peruvian immigrant Miguel Aliaga always knew that coming to Los Angeles would mean a long struggle mastering a new language. He just never figured that language would be Korean.

In a city that lures some of the world's poorest, brightest and most ambitious immigrants, a strange phenomenon is occurring.

Clusters of immigrants are learning that America is not as much about assimilating into an English-speaking world but into a diverse immigrant culture, where Koreans can speak Spanish - and vice versa.

SAN FRANCISCO
Ex-pats hear rules for voting absentee in Mexico

By Tyche Hendricks,

San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

Mexico's elections agency has begun the formidable process of developing its first-ever get-out-the-vote campaign in the United States.

As part of an effort to engage the 10 million expatriate Mexicans north of the border who are potential voters in next July's presidential election, a high-ranking elections official spent Sunday and Monday in San Francisco.

PRI making comeback – wins big in Coahuila

The clear winner in the race for the governor's office was Humberto Moreira, 39, a former elementary school teacher and recent mayor of Saltillo.

The nation's former ruling party was on its way to a convincing victory Sunday (9/25/05) evening the race for the governorship of Coahuila in the last state election before next summer's presidential race.

An exit poll by the television network Televisa gave Humberto Moreira of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, 60 percent of the vote.

President Fox warns Catholic Church – no one can receive illegal funds.

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- September 20, 2005 - A spokesman for President Vicente Fox on Tuesday warned that no one may accept illegal funds, responding to a Roman Catholic bishop's statement that the church has no obligation to investigate whether donations come from drug trafficking.

Mexican Bishops Say Church Rejects Narcotics Money
Respond to Media Interpretation of Prelate's Statement
 The Mexican bishops' conference says that the Catholic Church rejects all financial donations of an illicit origin, in particular those connected with drug trafficking.
The bishops issued a communiqué on Wednesday to clarify a statement by Bishop Ramón Godínez Flores of Aguascalientes, who said that donations are made to the Church in Mexico from drug trafficking.

Venezuela Seen Pushing a "21st-Century Socialism"

ROME, SEPT. 20, 2005 (ZENIT.org).- The Venezuelan government does not "persecute the Church in the proper sense, but it is spreading an ideology, that of 'socialism of the 21st century,'" says an observer.
"Such an ideology is not compatible with the social doctrine of the Church," warned Norbert Neuhaus, secretary-general of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. He made his comments after a recent visit to Venezuela.

Suicide in Cuba

By Rafael Rojas

El Pais Spain

In the absence of an independent news media and other resources to oppose Fidel Castro's government, Cubans have learned to express themselves in other ways over the past 25 years. Almost two million of them have left the country by various and mostly arduous means; while about 70,000 have committed suicide by various means, all quite deadly - hanging, wrist-cutting, jumping out windows, a shot in the head... Over the last half century, a rough but realistic estimate is that some 100,000 Cubans have taken their own lives.

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive E-book on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The E-book is also an in depth primer on Mexican culture and protocol for better understanding that allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals. Literally this book has been on immense help to thousands, you too can gain from Mr. Osio's lifetime experience.