Flavors of Latin America: Tequila, Ron, or Pisco?

Each year, we commemorate the National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors speak the same language with different accents and came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Spanish is the national language of 19 countries and Puerto Rico. Each one has it own standard dialect flavor.


The most common Spanish dialect taught in the U.S. is standard Latin American. It is sometimes called "Highland" Americans’ Spanish since it is generally spoken in the mountainous areas of Latin America. (Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Bolivia)

This dialect is noted for its pronunciation of each letter and its strong "r" sounds. This Spanish was spoken in Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and was brought to the Americas by the early colonists.

The second major type of Spanish is spoken in the Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Colombian Caribbean and some areas of Nicaragua), and in some cases in southern Spain. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the accent in Seville, Cádiz, and other cities in Andalusia, in Southern Spain, began to change. Speakers began to drop the final "s" on words. The settlers and traders of southern Spain took this dialect with them to the Caribbean and other coastal areas.

The third type of Spanish is in Central American spoken in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. In the South American Pacific comprise Chile, Ecuador and Paraguay.

A fourth type of Spanish has developed in Argentina and Uruguay. It is characterized by some out-of-date grammar, and a vocabulary and pronunciation heavily influenced by Italians who settled the area in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Generally in the Spanish world "tú" is the singular way of saying "you." In Argentina, however, "vos" is used instead. It is accompanied by a modified old Spanish verb form. It is as if part of the English-speaking world still used "thee" and "thou" in everyday speech.

Annise Parker: Hire Houston First

Annise Parker is Houston's City Controller and is running for Mayor in the November 2009 elections. We asked the four candidates to answer two questions. Here are the questions and the answers from Annise Parker's office:


LBN: The recession is affecting our small business community more severely than the larger organizations in this city. Can you share three initiatives that, in your view, can be promoted from the position of Houston Mayor to help small businesses?

AP: I have proposed a Hire Houston First policy, which will encourage the city to contract with local businesses that create local jobs. You can find my Hire Houston First policy at this website. In this tough economy, we must do everything we can to create new jobs and keep our residents working. The starting point should be making sure that jobs funded by our local tax dollars go first to local workers and keep our tax dollars circulating in the local economy. This will include a Regional Jobs Alliance. Some of us live in Houston and work in Bellaire. Some companies are based in Sugar Land but create good jobs for Houston residents. Our competition is not Bellaire or Sugar Land – it’s Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.

I support the use of economic development incentives that create jobs and bring revenue to the city so we can keep taxes low. Unlike the current mayor, I support the use of tax abatements to encourage companies that provide good jobs with good benefits to locate in Houston. But, these incentives must be tied to measurable results – like the creation of jobs – and the recipients should be required to repay the money if they don’t live up to their part of the bargain.

In today’s economic crisis, we are seeing that maintaining and upgrading our aging infrastructure is more than just a problem to solve – it’s an opportunity to create good, local jobs that will power our local economy while responding to pressing needs. For example, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that $1 of infrastructure spending can boost the economy anywhere from $1 - $2.50. Moody’s Economy.com’s chief economist pegs it at $1.59. That’s why I have proposed reforms to the way we maintain and upgrade our infrastructure.

* Federal Stimulus Program & Transparency: The federal government has made it clear that, for local governments to receive more federal stimulus funds, they must demonstrate accountability with the federal stimulus dollars already in the pipeline. That’s why I created a website that allows the public to track the city’s use of federal stimulus dollars – and hold local government accountable to make sure those dollars are being used to create jobs.

LBN: The perception is that crime in the city periphery has increased in the last several months. Can you mention three proposals that can reduce the level of criminality?

AP: Although statistics show a drop in violent crimes, property crimes are on the rise. As Mayor, I will protect the police department budget in this economic downturn. Protecting our law enforcement budget without raising taxes is a difficult but necessary balancing act. I have a track record of fiscal responsibility, using tough audits to cut millions of dollars in fraud and waste – money that is now funding priorities like police, firefighters, after-school programs and economic development.

We need a police department that will protect our citizens while treating all Houstonians with dignity and respect. You can find my detailed plan for improving public safety at this website.
We owe it to the public, and to the men and women who risk their lives every day to keep us safe, to give our police officers the most up-to-date tools to do their jobs. That means using enhanced technology to get real-time crime data to the patrol officers on the street who can best utilize the information to fight crime.
We also need better coordination with the many law enforcement agencies in our area. If you are being robbed, you don’t care what uniform they wear, you want someone with a badge and gun to help you.

We absolutely need more police officers, which is why I am committed to maintaining an aggressive program of police cadet classes. In Houston’s last major economic downturn, we closed the police academy to save money. That was a big mistake, which won’t happen during my administration. And because public safety is so essential to everything we do, we have to have a chief that has his fingers on the pulse of the city. I am committed to replacing our current chief, and I believe the new police chief should come from within the ranks of HPD.

Tun on the Green Light

Almost all consumer products these days are protected in disposable containers, usually made of plastic, paper, cardboard, wood, metal, glass, or a combination of them. Most products themselves are made of an increasingly complex mix of the same materials. While we wished that our Texas Legislature would pass laws encouraging recycling of those packaging materials, the reality is that Texas is a laissez faire state, and the probability of having a serious plan agreed by our envoys to Austin, any time soon, is slim. So, what is there for us to do, until the green light shines on our State Capitol?

The city of Houston is doing its part. In the last few years it has opened several recycling and receiving centers accepting almost all kind of domestic containers and used electronics. But those centers are not accessible to all Houstonians. Months ago, some HEB stores started receiving recyclable materials in containers located in their parking lots, but at least some of them have stopped receiving. The program seemed successful to the point that people were flooding with discarded packaging material of products purchased at HEB and at other businesses.

The city of Houston has established a recycling program but it only reaches the areas served by the city trash collection. Most neighborhoods not served by the city have established recycling programs of their own. Most of these programs severe restrictions in terms of type of materials received.

These are some suggestions we can adopt immediately, without waiting for our politicians in Austin or Houston to react:

1. Avoid buying products that are packaged with materials that are not recycled in your neighborhood, or accepted back by your store. Beverages are an example. Soft drinks come in glass, plastic or aluminum containers. Try to favor the type of container that is easier for you to recycle.

2. Some products, such as detergents are sold packaged with very thin film containers (“plastic bags”) that use substantially less plastic than conventional containers. Try to buy those products.

3. Try to use reusable bags when shopping groceries, or return the plastic bags to the store for recycling. Some stores accept the used bags.

4. When replacing batteries used in electronic gadgets, take the used ones to the store. Most stores receive your used batteries.

You will find many more areas where your immediate action can payoff. Here are some suggestions:

1. If you work for a company with many employees, ask the corresponding department in the organization (usually HS&E) to establish a recycling program if not already in place. If there are vending machines in your workplace, suggest adding recycling containers for used bottles or cans placed close to the vending machines.

2. If the local newspaper distributes unwanted weekly advertisement supplements on your sidewalk, ask them to stop the distribution to your home.

3. When your neighborhood community asks for your vote on recycling, within your possibilities, vote for more recycling, not less.

4. Contact your councilperson and ask him/her what your options for recycling are. May be the city can install a recycling container in your neighborhood.

5. Inquire the manager of the store where you buy your groceries if they have plans to receive back the containers of the products they sale. Favor the stores that receive back the containers.

Some of our politicians, organizations and even the government may be oblivious to the reality we face: more landfills, global warming, and loss of wildlife. Our politicians and government need to do their job, but in the meantime we can produce significant changes, even in Texas, why not?

Walking North, Flying South

Guatemalan mechanic Erwin Baches walked for five days across the desert and broke into the United States in search of the American Dream. Arrested, jailed and placed on a deportation flight back to Central America days ago, he is one of a growing number of illegal immigrants being sent home with that dream in tatters. "I just wanted a better life for my family," said Baches, 35, swiping away tears on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, charter flight to Guatemala City from a Phoenix-valley airport.

Immigration, particularly what to do with millions of illegal immigrants living in the shadows, is a divisive issue in the United States. As President Barack Obama tries to rally support in the U.S. Congress to revive comprehensive immigration reform this year, his government is removing the United States' unauthorized population at a gathering pace.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Flight Operations Unit, carrying out a policy begun under former President George W. Bush, has moved an average of 4,200 unauthorized migrants a week this year, up from 3,700 last year. Obama is seeking support among Democratic and Republican lawmakers to fix the broken immigration system in the United States, where almost 12 million illegal immigrants live and work in the shadows. He supports offering those in good standing the chance to pay a fine and become citizens, at the same time cracking down on employers hiring undocumented workers and hardening security along the Mexico border.

The ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations deports to more than 190 countries. Each weekday it averages 9 or 10 charter flights, a service dubbed "ICE Air" by news media, most of them bound for Central and South America and the Caribbean. Critics say deportation is simply a revolving door as migrants frequently make their way back to the United States and resume their lives. But ICE says deportation acts as a deterrent to many, and shows others that there are consequences for breaking into the United States, particularly if they commit crimes.

80,000 Missed Opportunities

Texas has missed the opportunity to offer health care coverage to 80,000 of the state’s uninsured children. Even though health insurance for children was a priority in this year’s session, the Legislature failed to act on a proposal to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Twenty-two percent of Texas children lack health insurance, amounting to a total 1.5 million uninsured youth. At the national level 12 percent of children are uninsured, making Texas the state with the largest number of uninsured children in the country.


The fact that one out of every five children in Texas doesn’t have health insurance raises the question: What kept our state lawmakers from intervening and ensuring the passage of the CHIP expansion bill?

CHIP provides health coverage for children whose working families make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but still can’t afford private health insurance plans. Eligible parents have a maximum yearly income of $44,100 for a family of four. The CHIP expansion bill would have extended eligibility to families of four that earned up to $66,150 and paid a monthly premium for the coverage. The expansion plan would have worked in favor of Texas Hispanic children, who are 3.5 times more likely to live in poverty and 2.5 times more likely to be uninsured than their Anglo counterparts.

Money was not the problem in the CHIP decision. Federal matching funds were available through the CHIP reauthorization law signed in January. Additionally, the state could lower the cost of emergency rooms and loss of workforce productivity by keeping children healthy.

Since parents of uninsured children can’t meet the expense of preventive treatment, they tend to wait until their children’s health reaches critical condition to get them medical attention. Parents must then resort to expensive hospitals and emergency care funded by taxpayers.

CHIP, on the other hand, returns money to taxpayers’ pockets. The federal government matches every dollar that Texas invests in CHIP with approximately $2.65 in federal funds. By failing to invest in CHIP and add more children to the program, our state is losing out on a federal contribution of millions of dollars that could relieve some of the state’s current financial burden.

Our lawmakers have denied CHIP expansion to higher income children this year, but more than half of Texas uninsured children are still qualified for enrolment in CHIP and Medicaid under current eligibility rules. The state now needs to reach out to these eligible families and increase enrolment in the program.

It is time for Texas legislators to tune out their political battles and put the children first. Texas leaders must attend to the health insurance demands of our youth to ensure they grow into healthy adults and build a prosperous future for our state.

© Latin Breaking News

Should You Care Who Governs Your City?

How many of us know our City Hall representatives, why we must elect them, or what they do once they hold a seat in city government?

Last May, only 4,186 ballots were cast from more than 93,000 registered voters in the special election to fill the District H seat vacated by Adrian Garcia. The number of voters accounted for less than 4.5 percent of the potential voter pool.

The low voter turnout was also reflected in the 2007 mayoral election, when only 117,098 out of 930,000 registered voters in the city of Houston showed up at the polls. Yet the presidential election attracted 1.18 million, or 60.3 percent of Harris County registered voters to cast a ballot in 2008.

Hispanics can no longer be used as scapegoats for the voter turnout since voter presence at council elections is lacking from the general population and not from a single ethnic group. Take District H as an example, where the electorate is 42 percent Hispanic and 45 percent Anglo.

So why don’t Houstonians attend to their local elections like they do to presidential and other national voting? The lack of participation in local politics may stem from the belief among constituents that their vote won’t make a difference in the overall future of the city or from the poor performance of past and current council members that alienates citizens from visiting the polls.

Indifference toward city elections also derives from failing to provide constituents adequate information about the candidates, the work that their position entails and the political process itself. Local elections call for the civil education of Houstonians. The city should take responsibility for teaching every resident about their leaders and representatives, the role of city council, and why their voice is important in community elections.

If you plan on brushing aside the June 13 run-off election for District H councilman or the November 3 election for city of Houston mayor, consider first what is at stake.

The council works with the mayor in matters of legislation and budget. It supervises city agencies, confirms the mayor’s appointments and approves city expenditures. A leader elected by a minimal percentage of the population may not be able to see to the demands of an entire city or community.

Houston’s city council is made up of 14 members, nine from specific districts and five elected citywide; each member is allowed to serve up to three two-year terms. Today there is only one Hispanic councilman serving a city that is 40 percent Hispanic. The District H election presents the opportunity to place a second Hispanic in city council and maintain the representation formerly assigned to Adrian Garcia before he left to become Harris County sheriff.

Voting for a city council member is as important as electing a mayor, a governor, or even a president, considering city council represents the needs of your particular community. Decide wisely. Your representative will have an impact on decision-making that targets issues such as land use, public safety, transportation, flooding, education, housing and the environment.

Texas' Future Demands Our Action

High dropout rates across Texas pose a risk to the financial future of the state, particularly in big cities such as Houston.













According to a study by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, more than 120,000 Texas students failed to graduate in 2006 and 70 percent of all non-graduates were minority students. Hispanic males were the lowest-performing group, graduating at a rate of less than 53 percent.

A study by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found that most dropouts leave school because classes are not interesting or they have missed too many days to catch up. Other reasons include failing, pregnancy, a lack of motivation to work hard, the need to get a job, and not getting along with teachers and classmates. Whatever the reasons for dropping out, the increasing loss of students in Texas has serious economic implications for the state. The graduation crisis not only affects the labor opportunities of individuals who don’t finish school, it also damages the economic health of their communities.

Almost 20 percent of Houston adults ages 25-64 didn’t finish high school and have an income averaging less than $15,000. The average annual earnings in the U.S. are $20,000 for people who didn’t finish high school, $30,000 for high school graduates and nearly $60,000 for individuals with bachelor degrees.

Texas Kids Count reports that keeping everyone in school would cost Texas an additional $1.7 billion for more teachers, more textbooks, more after-school programs and more space. However, if every 16-19 year-old in Texas graduated from high school, then the state’s earnings could increase by $865 million per year, or $3billion in four years, which would be more than enough to cover the education costs.

Higher incomes are only available where jobs are available. A study from the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation reports that dropouts reduce Texas employment by more than 302,000 jobs. The pattern is simple: Quality well-paying jobs require well-educated and productive workers. If Texas residents fail to receive a good education, they reduce the productivity of the Texas economy. Dropouts accept jobs with lower earnings that result in reduced spending. Less spending translates into less demand and less available jobs.

Dropouts are also more likely to need government assistance than high school graduates, increasing state spending in food stamps, housing assistance and Medicaid. Moreover, approximately three-fourths of state prison inmates are high school dropouts, accounting for an extra $12 million annual expense. The Friedman Foundation study concluded that high school dropouts are costing Texas taxpayers $337 million per year in lost tax revenue, increased Medicaid costs and increased incarceration.

Lowering the dropout numbers is essential to fuel the future of our city and our state. The cycle that starts with less high school dropouts and ends with a prosperous economy is challenging, but collaboration between school districts and their surrounding communities offers a potential cure to the “silent epidemic.”

Texas has a responsibility to feed its youth a proper education and prepare a strong work force. It is time to act collectively to eradicate dropouts if we want to keep our cities safe from a crumbling economy.