"El Flaco Explosivo"

I could not believe the news about Alexis Arguello but sadly it was true. Alex Arguello was one of the greatest boxers of our time, a three time World Champion and a Boxing Hall of Famer, etched in our memories forever the battle that took place November 12th 1982. Alexis Arguello fought Aaron Pryor and had what seemed a turning point in the fight but the waves turned against Arguello and the fight was ended in the 14th round. There was a lot of speculation about Aaron Pryor being given illegal substances in his water bottle by his trainer. The native Nicaraguan came from poor means and slowly made his mark in this world by becoming a Three Time boxing Champion, and giving us his greatest moments. A true fighter and thinker while in the midst of punches, Arguello was like a surgeon picking apart his opponents. We want to celebrate his life as a great boxer and leave you with the Alexis Arguello we know and love, God bless.....

Fathers Day weekend

We hope all the Fathers out there had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend. Its absolutely important for our children to know that we love them and support them in every way. As Lateenos we are all usually tight knit anyhow so celebrating Fathers Day is just a topping. I myself grew up without my Father in my life and that taught me something very important, that we should do everything we can to be there for them whether we are a family or not. Lateeno Fathers are important for our future, we are models for our young men, and if you have daughters, we form the foundations in their hearts for the type of men that they are most likely to seek as they mature. Dads are key to the success of our future, and they are strong fronts of what we call family. Yesterday we were blessed with a day to call our own, and a day for our children to give us the extra hugs and kisses. Today lets keep doing what we have been blessed to do and thats lead our children and families to better days. I hope you all enjoyed yesterday as much as we did, God bless.

Master John Ozuna

Master John Ozuna is a Lateeno in the Martial Arts, trained in the art of Bok-Fu-Do(the System of the White Tiger) for almost 30 years. This man is truly remarkable, last year my family and I witnessed John Ozuna break not just one but two Guinness World Records. The first record that was broken by John was the most amount of punches in one minute, he had a confirmed 713 punches. The second record that he broke was the fastest punch, he set a new record of 43.3 mph. And what is even more amazing Master John Ozuna broke both records on the very same day. This man has really set a new precedence in the Martial Arts, we've found countless youtube videos on him and his Art as well as the founder of Bok-Fu-Do, Grandmaster Richard Lee (East West Kung Fu). Master Ozuna, in between record breaking, building his school, and preparing his students for world tournaments he prepares an annual "Fright Night" show every Halloween to support his KO CAREs program. It stands for Child Assault/Abduction Response Efforts. This program teaches children about safety and defense. Master John Ozuna is a humble, good hearted person and I am honored to blog about him. Recently John Ozuna had aired a Commercial promoting his school but it was only broadcasted in the Bay Area, so we decided to share the commercial with all of you. I believe that we were all given gifts and if tapped we all can achieve anything within that spectrum. Con mucho amor a todos, God Bless.

In Hermosillo, Mexico

Our hearts go out to the 40 children that lost their lives in the fire in Mexico. We are also praying for the children that are in California and those still in hospitals recovering from this challenging time. We hope that Mexico's officials will oversee the everhauling of the 1500 other centers that care for children, and make sure that this type of tragedy does not happen again. Lets keep all those children in our prayers and wish them a healthy recovery, God Bless...

A fresh start and a new direction

As El Salvador prepares to seat its new Leftist President, with the backing of the U.S. and talks with Cuba about migration and mail, we see that our South and Central Americas are of an importance to President Obama and his administration. I am remaining hopeful for El Salvador because they need a new direction for the betterment of their future. Much of our Latin America's have taken heavy economical hits during this U.S. recession, some worse then others due to lower wages and a number of other issues. We are expecting great things from President Mauricio Funes, from economical improvement to Government reform that better supports and protects its people. This could very well be the fresh start that El Salvador has been waiting for all along. And a long over due negotiation meeting with Cuba, now this is an old senario but times have changed and 1956 is long gone. We all know that Communism cannot survive this new era that we live in, nor has it been able to convince other countries that it is the most beneficial to convert to in place of Democracy. It has been many years since the United States has placed an embargo on Cuba, but recently the U.S. has been slowly opening doors to resume talks with Cuba to take steps in establishing mail and hopefully one day lifting the embargo. I believe in my lifetime we will see Cuba become democratic, and we will see the United States reestablish business connections with Cuba. There is a time for everything, a new season for change, and Cuba's season is growing near whether the Castro Family agree with it or not. So keep watch because tomorrow is near and what it brings none of us know for certain. god bless.

Sonia Sotomayor Candidate for big seat

we would like to congratulate one of our own, Ms. Sonia Sotomayor, as a candidate for the Justice position. Today President Barrack Obama nominated the Puerto Riquena Lateena from New York for the seat in the Supreme Court. The humbled Sotomayor gave thanks and also did what very few people do these days, accept Lateenos, she praised her mother for the sacrifices that her mother made for Sonia and her brother. I am proud to hear that Lateenos will claim another first in the United States, bringing us closer to one day holding the highest job, commander in Chief. We love Sonia and wish her the best in her nomination which Im certain will go through, today is a great day for all of us. Tomorrow I believe it will be you. God bless

Memorial Day

This weekend we proudly hang our stars and stripes for Memorial Day, a day set aside for all our gente who have fought and died for freedom. Their service and ultimate sacrifice for this Country have allowed us another day of what most Americans take for granted. We were blessed to have such great warriors to answer the call when this Nation needed them most, and to boldly step forward without question or hesitation and bared arms against those who threatened our very existence. For those who have put their lives on the line and those who have given their lives so that we can be just that much more safer, there is no amount of gratitude that we can come close to giving you, so I hope just saying Thank You and that we love you will due. Our Lateeno gente have fought in every major American conflict since the Revolutionary War, and if we take the time to look at the list of great heroes that have been awarded the Medal of Honor you will find names like Baca, Fernandez, Garcia, Hernandez, Lopez, and Vargas just to name a few. We as a people can hold our heads up high and know that we positively influenced America and honorably defended it. Today we honor those who have fallen, may you all rest in peace, con mucho amor..

The Battle of Las Piedras

Today Uruguay celebrates the battle that changed the direction towards eventual Independence, for its people. On May 18th 1811 Gen. Jose Gervasio Artigas led Uruguayan forces and revolutionary supporters from Buenos Aires against Spain at San Isidro Labrador de Las Piedras. It was an important battle for Uruguay because it marked the beginning of the absolute Independence, which took place just 14 years later against Brazil. It is truly amazing how such a small battle meant so much for Uruguays future, but it was. So we like to recognize and share in our gentes celebration in Uruguay, may God bless you another hundred years of Independence.

Independence Day for Paraguay

May 14th and 15th 1811, Paraguay fought and won their Independence from Spain. Tensions between Spaniard rule and Paraguayan locals started building long before that early May uprising, starting with the Comunero Revolt, in which the viceroy of Lima reinstated a Pro-Jesuit Governor whom the people had removed earlier from the position of Governor. The Portenos (Buenos Aires people)played a major role in the Independence of Paraguay, by them ousting the Spanish rule in their own Native Buenos Aires, they helped spark the beginning. Once the Portenos were successful in removing Spain from their homeland they immediately took steps to take control of Paraguay. The Portenos made the attempt at control by placing one of the most hated Spokesman for Buenos Aires, Jose Espinola y Pena. Soon after, Pena would return to Buenos Aires norrowly missing being exiled. The Portenos then sent troops to take control of Asuncion but to no avail, they were beaten by the Paraguayan troops. The final straw was when the Asuncion cabildo requested Portuguese military support against Gen. Manuel Belgrano's troops, an uprise immediately took place and soon after Spanish rule was overthrown. So we celebrate the Independence with our gente in Paraguay and pray for many more years to come. Con mucho amor, God bless.

Feliz Dia de Las Madres

We would like to wish all the beautiful Mother's a Happy Mother's Day. We all know that Mother's are the backbone of the Lateeno family, they nurture us as children (and in most cases still do) they support us in everything we do and gently let us know when we make those not so great choices. Our Mother's love us unconditionally and make sure that we know it, without their loving hearts in our lives Im sure life would seem just that much more uncomforting. There is no better way to show our gratitude for these hardworking dedicated women then to celebrate their life long efforts on Mother's day. We should cherish them as much as they cherish us, so with that un besito para mi mama and yours too, enjoy these blessed days with yours' and lets make sure we give thanks for the time we've shared with her. May God bless us another year with our Mother's.

A Sigh of relief

I'm not sure if others have taken the news as positive but we certainly have and its been due. The stress test for the Banks has finally been completed and their resistance to the economical downturn is within reach. That means that balance is near and with balance there is stability once again. I am extremely hopeful for all of us and believe that the eventual forward motion is near. There has been allot of good that has come out of this recession, much needed change has filtered out all of the hidden agendas and illegal habits that were functioning below the radar. None of us wanted a recession but because of the "business as usual" ideals our economical structure took a beating until the system failed. What is even more amazing then the restabilizing of the economy is the amount of new businesses that are started because of the downturn. And since there is such a large majority of Lateenos I can only imagine how many of us took advantage of this recession. The amount of entrepreneurs that see an opportunity in some of the toughest times is extremely high. I expect to see our Lateeno gente following in these same foot steps, with new fresh ideas and dreams that are slowly coming to life. I've mentioned before that 2009 is our year, this is the perfect time to go further then we ever thought possible. I am glad for today and its great news, I am glad for tomorrow because we can now see light at the end of the tunnel, and I am excited for the future because I want to see all the new Lateeno run businesses that have come alive. I am an optimist and believe that there is more for us if we choose to reach for it, the economy has offered up this opportunity and we have the option to grab hold of it and allow it to take us to a different level. This is the year of beginning filled with so much hope and potential, I hope to see todo mi gente benefit from these times. Take a chance and reach. God bless.

"Cinco de Mayo" weekend

Well we hope all of our Mexicano gente are enjoying the weekend celebrations that are going on throughout the United States and abroad. Its a great time to relax and celebrate the the 147 year old victory over the French. On May 5th 1862 The French Army and their foreign Legion, which before this date hadn't been beaten in over 50 years, marched to Mexico City with Cavalry and Infantry that numbered over 8000. The outnumbered Mexican Army with machetes and older model weapons and the lay of the land, literally destroyed the French, enough so that Napoleon III could not even supply Confederate rebels involved in the U.S. Civil War, thus allowing time for the United States to build a stronger Army and ultimately ending the American Civil War. The defeat of the French at Puebla, Mexico was a great victory, and a changing point in history for the United States. So celebrate the victory and enjoy yourselves, con mucho amor, God bless.